Keith Wyness drops verdict on Aston Villa signing Everton star James Garner
Everton are likely to price Aston Villa out of a move for their star midfielder James Garner this summer.
That is according to former Everton and Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the former are in a "very strong position" in terms of the 25-year-old's future.
This comes after Football Insider revealed last week that Villa are weighing up a fresh move for the England international, having previously been heavily linked with him back in January.
However, Wyness believes that the Merseysiders will make it extremely difficult for the second city outfit to strike a deal, given that the player only recently signed a new contract.
Garner is now tied down at the Hill Dickinson Stadium until the summer of 2030, meaning that the Toffees hold all the cards in terms of his future at the moment.
Unai Emery's side are big admirers of the former Manchester United man, but would need the player to push to make the move happen.
James Garner clear over Aston Villa move
Everton’s former chief Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Garner and his camp will not be "agitating" for a move away this summer.
The Villans can offer Champions League football next season, but Garner is coming off the back of a season that saw him realise his England aspirations while performing strongly for Everton.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness, who remains well connected at former club Everton, explained exactly why he believes there is no chance of a move this summer.
"Everton can price Villa out of this quite easily. I think there's four years left now on Garner's contract, so they're in a very strong position," he said.
"Villa, as we know, are in difficult financial engineering issues. I'm not saying they haven't got money, but they've already allocated a lot of that, and I don't think they've got a lot of room.
"I don't think Garner's people will be agitating for a move. I think he'd like to see probably some more players coming into Everton, and you'd hope David Moyes will be able to reassure him on that as well.
"But certainly I don't think this is one that would work for Villa at all. Everton have got all the cards in this one, and I think he'll be staying at Everton."
James Garner tipped to smash Everton transfer record
Former Everton scout Bryan King recently told Football Insider that he expects Garner to become the Toffees' record sale whenever he eventually moves on.
The midfielder has gone from strength to strength during his time on Merseyside, and has become a hugely consistent performer in the Premier League.
Romelu Lukaku currently stands as Everton's record sale when he joined Manchester United for £75million, but King believes that Garner could one day eclipse that figure.
However, that will not be this summer, as there is little indication that Villa have any chance of prising him away.