Reo-Coker waits on Villa offer

Nigel Reo-Coker's agent believes the midfielder will be the most in-demand English free agent this summer if Aston Villa allow him to leave.

Local reports in Birmingham suggested Reo-Coker was at 'deadlock' with the club in talks over a new contract at Villa Park.

But his agent, Tony Finnigan, insists there have been no talks with Villa since last year, and that they are waiting for the club to approach them.

"To suggest that talks are 'deadlocked' is just ridiculous and plain wrong," Finnigan told Sky Sports' website.

"The last set of talks we had with Villa was in December and at the time, rightly so, they stated that all contract talks would be put on hold until their Premier League status was confirmed.

"Now we are respectfully waiting for the club to come back to us, but there is no getting away from the fact Nigel is out of contract at the end of the season.

"If Nigel does leave Villa, then he would be the biggest English Bosman of the summer and at the age of just 26 would be one of the most in-demand ever.

"That is just the facts of where we are at the moment, but Nigel has enjoyed playing under Gerard Houllier - that is true so we are open minded about the situation."