Burnley have signed Aston Villa midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba on loan until the end of the season.

Olof Mellberg is quitting as captain of Sweden to concentrate on his career at Aston Villa under new manager Martin O’Neill.

Aston Villa will give a debut to 19-year-old Gabriel Agbonlahor if the club’s striking crisis does not ease in the next 24 hours.

Aston Villa midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba has personally apologised to manager David O’Leary following his late return from the African Nations Cup.

Eric Djemba-Djemba’s agent has admitted Aston Villa manager David O’Leary is right to fine the player after his failure to turn up at the club.

Eric Djemba-Djemba is facing disciplinary action from Aston Villa having failed to resurface nearly a week after Cameroon’s exit from the African Nations Cup.

David O’Leary has urged Aston Villa’s fans not to verbally abuse defender Jlloyd Samuel, who could make a rare appearance in today’s FA Cup clash against Port Vale.

ASTON VILLA manager David O’Leary insists unhappy defender Ulises De la Cruz is not being priced out of a move away from the midlands club.

Alex Ferguson has vowed he will not leave Manchester United “in a shambles” when he eventually departs Old Trafford.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger: “It is a big loss for United and it takes time for a team to adjust to the loss of a player like that. It was a complete surprise, although he looked recently more and more disenchanted with his partners in the team so maybe it’s not as big a surprise as it might look.

A leading Manchester United fans’ group reacted angrily to news of Roy Keane’s Old Trafford exit.

ASTON VILLA midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba has rejected claims he blames manager David O’Leary for the club’s current lowly Premiership placing.

Manchester City 3 Aston Villa 1

Carlos Queiroz has admitted Manchester United cannot hope to replace Roy Keane.

Manchester United 0 Aston Villa 0

Aston Villa’s Martin Laursen (knee) and Darius Vassell (ankle) have only been given a 50-50 chance of being fit to face Charlton in the Barclays Premiership at Villa Park tomorrow night.

Ecuador international Ulises de la Cruz will return as part of a reshuffled Villa defence for the trip to St Mary’s.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen insists he will be unfazed by the expected taunts of the Birmingham fans in tomorrow’s derby encounter at St Andrews.

Aston Villa are without Juan Pablo Angel, on-loan Carlton Cole, Mark Delaney and Eric Djemba-Djemba for Sunday’s Barclays Premiership derby at Birmingham.

ASTON Villa midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba will be out of action until the beginning of May with the hamstring injury suffered in training last week.

David O’Leary believes Aston Villa will not see the best of midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba until next season.

Portsmouth, playing their last home match for five weeks, had Steve Stone back in midfield after injury to face Aston Villa.

Eric Djemba-Djemba will make his debut for Aston Villa in tomorrow night’s clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage.

The Old Firm took centre stage as midnight approached on transfer deadline day with Craig Bellamy and Barry Ferguson both moving north of the border.

Mark Bradley

Eric Djemba-Djemba has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Aston Villa after completing his move from Manchester United.

A hectic countdown to the Barclays Premiership’s transfer deadline was in the offing as deals for Craig Bellamy, Andy Reid and Michael Dawson remained in the balance.

Eric Djemba-Djemba’s ill-fated 18 months at Manchester United appears to be drawing to a close.

Alex Ferguson is ready to call on Wayne Rooney as Manchester United look to restore their battered reputation in Wednesday’s Carling Cup semi-final at Chelsea.

Mighty Manchester United face the humiliating prospect of an FA Cup visit to Exeter on January 18 after the plucky non-leaguers wrote themselves into the history books at Old Trafford.

ALEX FERGUSON received a double dose of good news with Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy both set to return from injury ahead of schedule.

Alex Ferguson has received a double dose of good news on the injury front with Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy both set to return ahead of schedule.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson can call on only one experienced striker in Alan Smith for the match at Middlesbrough tomorrow.

ALEX FERGUSON has branded Tal Ben Haim a disgrace and claimed the furore surrounding Wayne Rooney should not be allowed to mask the Bolton defender’s attempt to get the England striker sent off.

Alex Ferguson has ruled Gary Neville and Eric Djemba-Djemba out of tomorrow’s trip to Aston Villa.

Man Utd 5 Crystal Palace 2

Phil Neville has boldly claimed Manchester United would rather face Serie A’s finest clubs in the Champions League first knock-out stage.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has shrugged off the hype surrounding tonight’s Carling Cup meeting against Arsenal at Old Trafford.

John O’Shea claims there will be no sulkers on show at Old Trafford tomorrow - but Phil Neville could be forgiven for being pretty downcast at his recent treatment.

WES BROWN is eager to put the ‘soupgate’ scandal to one side and start focusing on how normal service has been resumed at Manchester United.

ALEX FERGUSON will cling to every good luck charm available today and pray his team come through their Champions League encounter with Sparta Prague unscathed.

Alex Ferguson will cling to every good luck charm available tomorrow and pray his team come through their Champions League encounter with Sparta Prague unscathed.

Manchester United’s Champions League hopes were dealt a blow this morning when both Roy Keane and Rio Ferdinand were ruled out of tomorrow’s encounter with Sparta Prague.