Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of England's most capped Under-21 player, James Milner, from Newcastle United on a four-year contract. Milner underwent a medical at Bodymoor Heath today, and has made the move from the north-east for a fee believed to be in the region of £10m.

Milner has long been a target of Martin O'Neill, who two years ago came within minutes of snapping up the former Leeds player. Milner spent the entire 2005-06 campaign on loan at Villa, and a permanent deal was set to go through in August 2006. But Newcastle pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour after failing at that stage to sign Mark Viduka.

The player signed a new four-year contract last summer with the Magpies, but last week handed in a transfer request alerting the interest of Villa. He becomes O'Neill's seventh signing of the summer and could come into contention to play against Liverpool at Villa Park on Sunday.

O'Neill also hopes to make further additions to his squad before the transfer window closes on Monday. "We are going to try and do something else if we can," the manager said. "The club owner Randy Lerner has been fantastic with his support."

Milner said he saw Villa as a "club on the way up" and that his new manager had a lot to do with his choice of destination. "Martin O'Neill was a massive pull and I was ready to sign for him two years ago. He's got a great record and he's a fantastic manager," Milner said.

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan admitted that it was his decision to sell the midfielder. "He's a player, in an ideal world, you would not want to lose, but I just want to make it absolutely clear that at the end of the day, it was my decision to sell him," he said.
"We got an offer that I feel was his value. We are all aware James has had a difficult time - he almost signed for them once before and was dragged back. But he has always behaved impeccably. He's a fantastic professional, and there's no doubt about it, they've got an outstanding player and we have got to move on."