Premiership: Merson - I want to stay at Villa

Aston Villa captain Paul Merson has pledged his future to the club.

Merson has been the target of an unsuccessful £2m bid from Wolves this week.

But the former England international midfielder has made it plain that he is fully committed to Villa with whom he is under contract for another two years.

Merson, 33, said: "I want to stay at Villa. Our new signings this summer have shown that we are really going places."

Villa have snapped up Hassan Kachloul, Mustapha Hadji, Peter Schmeichel and Olof Mellberg as manager John Gregory rebuilds his squad.

Merson, who has been appointed as Villa’s new club captain following the sale of Gareth Southgate, has also been linked with Wimbledon and Crystal Palace.

But he added: "They all want to be seen to be going for big name players, but I am happy at Villa.

"People are just saying things to make people think they are heading in the right direction and so will want to buy season tickets if Paul Merson goes there.

"At the end of the day it does not bother me. I just want to carry on playing with Villa and if they (the clubs linked with buying Merson) want to carry on this talk they can."