Manchester City have warned they are ready to call time on their attempts to prise Ugo Ehiogu away from Aston Villa.

City have almost run out of patience with Villa because of their reluctance to lower their asking price for Ehiogu.

Villa are adamant that they will not accept City's offer of £6 million for the centre half and reportedly want another £2 million. Villa boss John Gregory poured further fuel on the fire when he claimed that City should "put up or shut up" after the City complained about the deadlock.