London: Stewart Downing has warned James Milner it will be difficult to hold down a regular place at Manchester City and that the midfielder might have to be content with being a "bit-part" player if he decides to leave Aston Villa this summer.
Downing suspects Milner has already made up his mind about where he wishes to play next season, despite the fact that Manchester City have yet to meet Villa's asking price. Villa flatly rejected a £20 million (Dh112 million) offer from City in May but are bracing themselves for an improved bid, with Downing suggesting it might represent "good business" for the Midlands club if they receive a substantial sum for Milner and reinvest that money to bring in several new players.
Right move
The Villa winger is less convinced, however, that joining City is the right move for Milner at this stage of his career. He believes City are already overloaded with midfielders and questions how much football Milner would play next season as Roberto Mancini strives to keep all the big names in his squad happy.
"It will be interesting to see what XI [the manager] starts with because he's got that much quality in that squad," said Downing.
"They're all going to be fighting for places. It's going to be hard and it will be hard for James if he goes there. Will he play? I can't think how many midfielders they've got. I think that will be one of the decisions [that he has to consider]: ‘Do I want to go there and be a bit-part or stay here and play?' That's totally up to him. I am sure he's probably already made his decision.
"If James did go, it's a substantial amount for one player. If you could replace James with a player in and around his ability you would probably say it's good business, because you might be able to get another one in as well. All players have their prices and, if it's a big amount of money like that, do you not take it and then never get it again, or do you cash in and then buy someone of similar quality? It's a big decision for the club and the management."
The former Middlesbrough player believes City will be under huge pressure to win silverware next season following another summer of heavy investment, although he harbours some doubts about their transfer strategy.
"You can't spend that much money and not expect to win something, so there's a lot of pressure on them to get it right. And sometimes it's hard when you try to gel players into a new team. It doesn't matter how much you paid for them. If they don't click, then it doesn't work."
