O'Neill rules out Villa big spend

Martin O'Neill has ruled out a big summer of spending for Aston Villa, insisting that he would never spend money that the club does not have. Aston Villa narrowly missed out on Champions League football after slipping away from the top four at the end of the season.

"I'm all for spending what you can afford. If you can afford £500million because that's within your remit then good luck to you," he said.

"If you can't, then I'm sorry you don't. That's how I work.

"You don't mind taking the occasional risk. If you think it's for the benefit of the football club in the medium to long-term - someone like Ashley Young who has more than paid his way - that type of thing you don't mind doing once in a while.

"But if you are going to be reckless then I'm sorry, people have put trust in me and I am going to have to try to abide by that. You also accept the fact it's like catch 22: where do you go to compete with the big boys? Those things are important."