Aston Villa Winger Ashley Young Named Barclays Player of the Month

Aston Villa winger Ashley Young has scooped the Barclays Player of the Month Award for September.

Young added to his award from April 2008 following a sterling September, in which he scored twice and contributed a further two assists.

After setting up one goal and firing the decisive second in Villa's 2-1 away win at Tottenham Hotspur, he followed this up with another assist in the 2-1 derby victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Young completed the month by hitting the back of the net with a 20-yard free-kick that proved the catalyst for a narrow win over Sunderland at Villa Park.

Villa's three successive league victories during the month saw Martin O'Neill's men continue their surge up the Barclays Premier League table, ending September well placed in fourth.

Young joins an elite band of players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, who have won the Barclays Player of the Month Award on more than one occasion.

The decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel, which includes representatives from football's governing bodies, the media and fans.

Foreign Ownership of Premier League Clubs

ASTON VILLA - American billionaire Randy Lerner completed his takeover of Aston Villa last September for 62.6 million pounds ($122.5 million) after securing the required 90 percent of the Birmingham club's shares. The Cleveland Browns owner installed himself as chairman of Villa, taking the place of Doug Ellis who stepped down after 38 years at the Midlands side.

CHELSEA - In July 2003 Russian businessman Roman Abramovich agreed to buy the company that owned Chelsea in a deal which valued it at nearly 60 million pounds ($99.50 million). Under the cash offer, Abramovich, through his English offer vehicle Chelsea Ltd, agreed to purchase 84.9 million Chelsea Village shares at 35 pence each, just over half of its entire issued share capital. Abramovich has spent millions on the club since 2003 and has been rewarded with Chelsea winning successive Premier League titles and domestic cups.

FULHAM - In 1997 Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, owner of top London department store Harrods, invested 30 million pounds ($49 million) in Fulham and took over as chairman after agreeing to acquire a controlling stake. With his financial backing Fulham repurchased the freehold to their Craven Cottage stadium on the banks of the river Thames in west London for an estimated 7.5 million pounds, while on the pitch they were promoted to the top-flight in 2001.

LIVERPOOL - The 2005 European champions, seeking an injection of cash for two years to help challenge for top honours and fund a new stadium, agreed in 2006 to be taken over by U.S. sports tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks for 174 million pounds ($340 million). The 18-times English league champions had been in talks with Dubai International Capital (DIC), but DIC dropped its bid plans when Liverpool asked for more time to consider a rival offer from Gillett. In March 2008 takeover talks involving Tom Hicks and Dubai International Capital (DIC) were terminated in March amid disagreement over who should be running the club. DIC, which made a 400 million pounds ($807.6 million) bid for the Merseyside club, said it was "in advanced discussions" with Liverpool's co-owners although no agreement had been reached on price or shareholding percentage.

MANCHESTER CITY - In July 2007 former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was hailed as an unlikely saviour when he bought the club for 81 million pounds ($146.3 million). New managers Kevin Keegan and Sven-Goran Eriksson, both tried to restore the clubs fortunes, but failed. Eriksson joined the City scrapheap in June 2008 after just a season in charge. Mark Hughes was named new manager on June 4. Prospective new owners, Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, said on Monday they wanted to make Manchester City the biggest club in the Premier League.

MANCHESTER UNITED - In August 2005, supporters were unhappy with the American tycoon, Malcolm Glazer's 790 million pounds ($1.41 billion) takeover and used the first home game where his sons Joel, Avi and Bryan, all board members, were in attendance, to make their voices heard. U.S. financier Malcolm Glazer said he had raised his stake in Manchester United to over 75 percent, finally gaining full control in May 2005 of the club he had battled to acquire for more than two years.

PORTSMOUTH - Alexandre Gaydamak acquired full control of Portsmouth in July 2006 after he bought the remaining stake from chairman Milan Mandaric. Media reports suggested that Mandaric had sold his remaining shares to Gaydamak, a Russian-born French national, for about 32 million pounds ($58.46 million). Gaydamak's initial investment for a 50 percent stake in the club had been reported at 15 million pounds. Mandaric injected new life into Portsmouth after taking over the club in 1998, winning promotion from the second division in 2003. He has stayed on as a non-executive chairman.

WEST HAM - In November 2006 West Ham United agreed an 85 million pounds ($161.3 million) takeover from a consortium led by Iceland Football Association president and UEFA member Eggert Magnusson. Magnusson replaced Terry Brown as West Ham chairman and shortly after sacked coach Alan Pardew, replacing him with Alan Curbishley.

Rafa Benitez : "I Still Want One Player (Gareth Barry)"

Gareth Barry, the England midfielder appeared to be poised to stay at Aston Villa this season after Liverpool had failed to meet a deadline set by their Premier League rivals. Sources revealed that Rafa Benitez still very keen and hopeful on signing Barry. Benitez has chosen the key areas he wants to strengthen before the season starts, but did not tell that Barry is the player who fulfills his criteria.

"We have a good player [Alonso] and we have another good player coming in soon," said Benitez after his side's 1-0 win over Lazio. "We can improve the squad, so we will try to do that. We will bring in one more player if we can. I do not know when. But clearly we have problems on the left. (Harry) Kewell has gone, (Fabio) Aurelio is injured and (Sebastien) Leto cannot get a work permit. (Ryan) Babel is away in the Olympic Games. Maybe he can come back and fill that role, but I know we can improve in this area.

Who comes in? It could be another left-sided player, rather than a central midfielder. Maybe he can play in three different positions - that is a positive thing. I am talking about one player, but I won't say the name. I will try to improve the team and the squad if I can. I am pleased because we have not lost again; I will try to do my best to improve the squad. The situation is not a question of money."

Liverpool's Pursuit of £18 Million Aston Villa Midfielder Ends

Liverpool's pursuit of Aston Villa midfielder is over tonight after the Midlands club confirmed the player will be staying at Villa Park. The England international has been linked with a move to Anfield for months now after he confirmed that he was interested in a move to Merseyside club.

Barry, 27, was valued at £18 million by Villa, a price which Reds boss Rafa Benitez felt was too much for the Villa captain. "During talks in the past few days, a final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of and agreed to," said a Villa statement. "This deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with Villa."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill was very critical of the way Liverpool pursued their interests in Barry and he has always said their was a chance that Barry would stay at the club. I personally think this is a good thing for both clubs. Villa still have their captain, whilst Liverpool still have £18 million to go out and buy an even better midfield player.