O'Neill hopes to seal duo

Villa boss keen on double swoop

Last updated: 7th August 2008

Martin ONeill Aston Villa manager

O'Neill: Hopeful

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Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is hopeful Luke Young and Nicky Shorey will both be signed shortly.

Villa have agreed deals with Middlesbrough and Reading respectively for the England full-backs.

O'Neill is ready to splash nearly £10million on the pair and he is looking forward to confirming their arrivals.

"Strengthening the squad has obviously been in our minds for quite some considerable time," he told Villa's official website.

Agreed

"We have agreed a fee with Reading for Nicky Shorey - a quality natural left-back who played for England 18 months ago.

"As we speak he will be coming up for a medical and hopefully we can agree terms.

"The right-back position caused us a few problems last season in terms of us not having a natural right-back.

"Now we've also agreed a fee with Middlesbrough for Luke Young. So hopefully there won't be any major problems and those two deals can go through.

"Luke is a natural right-back and played for England not so long ago. He did very well for Boro last season and this is a great opportunity for him.

"Obviously the injury to Freddie (Wilfred Bouma) has left a gaping hole on the left. Freddie had a wonderful season for us last year and this wasn't necessarily a priority for us before the injury.

"But Nicky Shorey is more than a back-up. He's a quality player on the ball and is up for the challenge."