O'Leary still courting bad boy Bellamy
Aston Villa manager David O’Leary has still not given up hope of landing controversial Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy.
It had long been anticipated Bellamy would have found another club by this stage of the summer after being informed in no uncertain terms by Magpies boss Graeme Souness he has no future at St James’ Park.
A list of suitors have been mentioned, notably Villa, Everton and Celtic following his loan spell at Parkhead over the second half of last season in the wake of his bitter bust-up with Souness in January.
Bellamy is set to bite the bullet and return to pre-season training with Newcastle on July 4 unless a deal with another club can quickly be thrashed out.
It appeared Villa had fallen by the wayside as the suggestion was that Bellamy did not favour the move, particularly after he snubbed a switch to Birmingham in January.
But according to Villa secretary Steve Stride and the player’s agent, Stephen Horner, the club remain in the hunt for the Wales international.
“We haven’t been informed either by the player or his representatives that he has rejected us, so it is something we are still actively pursuing,” said Stride. “As far as I am concerned, we are still in there fighting.”
Horner has also refuted suggestions Bellamy has no intention of going to Villa. “There has been no ‘turning down’, or anything of the sort," he declared.
“At the moment he is heading back to Newcastle on July 4, but things could change. He has not turned Villa down.”
Villa open the new campaign with a home game against Bolton, with O’Leary looking to emulate last season’s curtain-raising 2-0 victory over Southampton at Villa Park.
“It’s always a bonus to have a home game on the opening day and a repeat of last season’s performance against Southampton in our first match would obviously be welcome,” said O’Leary on www.avfc.co.uk.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve made Villa Park a hard place to come to and we’ll be looking to start off the season with three points.”
