Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner has warned
Liverpool off making a move for manager Martin
O'Neill.
Reports have suggested Liverpool are weighing up a move for
O'Neill if Rafa Benitez ends up leaving Anfield this
season.
Benitez's future at Liverpool looks uncertain after a
disappointing campaign with Italian giants Juventus believed to be
keen on luring the Spaniard to Turin.
O'Neill's own position at Villa was the subject of speculation
earlier this season, but Lerner revealed this week that the
Northern Irishman was staying put after talks between the
pair.
Lerner, who took control of Villa in 2006, is keen to keep hold
of O'Neill and has told Liverpool they would be wasting their time
if they made an approach for the former Celtic and Leicester
chief.
"I don't want a manager who nobody else wants. But, as far as
I'm concerned, Liverpool are not taking Martin O'Neill away from
Aston Villa," Lerner told the Daily Star on
Sunday.
There have been reports of an uneasy relationship between Lerner
and O'Neill, but the American insists he is happy with O'Neill's
character.
"If you look at the top managers, you realise you are dealing
with animated, complicated people," added Lerner.
"With Martin you've got a lot of personality, a lot of points of
view, a lot of history and a lot of stuff going on. I realise
that's who my manager is.
"And I don't want anything different than what I have here
now."
Lerner also revealed he will not be splashing out big money on
players this summer saying the club cannot afford to spend
£30million on one star.
"I tell the truth. To anybody who asks me, I will simply say
that I cannot afford it.
"It isn't that I'm not prepared to write the cheque. But we have
tried to build the club in a steady, reasonable way. And £30m
players are not a part of that.
"You also have to consider what you would pay the player and
what the other players would think about it.
"It would just not be at all consistent with anything that we
have done since I've been at the club."