Young set to wrap up Villa
switch
Watford striker Ashley Young is set to join Premiership rivals
Aston Villa on Monday in a deal initially worth £8m.
The 21-year-old turned down a move to West Ham earlier this month
and will now sign for Martin O'Neill's side.
Add-ons could eventually take the fee above Villa's record of £9.5m
but O'Neill said: "Is it a risk? Not to me.
"He has got great touch and a wee bit of pace too, he can play on
both flanks and alongside the centre-forward as well. I am very
excited about it."
England Under-21 international Young sat out the Premiership match
between Villa and the Hornets on Saturday.
Young is expected to make his debut in Villa's Premiership clash
with Newcastle at St James' Park on 31 January.
O'Neill added: "I think he has got enormous potential and I think
he will fulfil that.
"He is a really talented player. I have seen a lot of him and I am
going to back my judgement.
"My own view is he will prove terrific value. He is only a young
fellow and I have no doubt at all he is good enough.
"I have been really impressed with him and his maturity. I have
seen Watford loads of time this season. When they see me coming,
they probably have been thinking 'oh, no, not again!'.
"You think along the lines of 'will somebody be of value over the
next four or five years?' and you base your decision on that. I
believe Ashley is capable of great things."
O'Neill also said he was not worried about splashing out so much
money on such a young, unproven player.
"I have always been pretty careful with money, primarily because
the clubs I've been involved with have not really had that much,"
said the 54-year-old Villa manager.
"It will be the most money I've spent but at my age I've earned the
right to do that. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho and Manchester United
manager Sir Alex Ferguson can spend and it's all right.
"Am I supposed to stay down forever?"
O'Neill has been keen to boost his attacking options, with Juan
Pablo Angel and Milan Baros out of form and Chris Sutton
injured.
Neither Angel or Baros found the net in Villa's 2-0 win over
bottom-of-the-table Watford, with a Gavin Mahon own goal breaking
the deadlock before Gabriel Agbonlahor slotted a second.
