Villa are the favourites to sign 22-year-old James Milner but Liverpool seem to be key to the deal.
Liverpool have probed Newcastle for weeks, making offers of youth team players and money well below the valuation of the player.
But it was enough to unsettle the former Leeds Utd winger, and he even held "crisis talks" over his future, saying he fancied the move to Anfield.
Liverpool are believed to have cooled their interest but Gareth Barry's proposed move to the Reds is key in Milner's move.
