Aston Villa manager David O'Leary has been told by chairman Doug Ellis that he will have to adopt a sell to buy policy if he wants to reshape his squad in the summer.

O'Leary wants to bring in on-loan Newcastle midfielder James Milner on a permanent basis in the summer plus three other quality players.

But funds are limited given the apparent failure of any proposed takeover of the midlands club who still need one point to be mathematically certain of avoiding relegation.

The consortium including Irish property developers the Comer Brothers has been unable to put forward a concrete bid and Ellis has lost patience.

O'Leary, whose own position could come under threat in the summer, said: "I can't plan ahead because the way the club is at the moment, we've just got to get it to the finish and then see what is going to happen.

"I've already been told by the chairman that to get players in next season it is what we sell that will enable us to buy.

"That's the way things stand at the moment. We have to generate funds by what we can sell and if we don't we will be staying with what we've got."

Record signing Juan Pablo Angel, long-serving midfielder Lee Hendrie, Mark Delaney, Jlloyd Samuel, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Ulises de la Cruz and Mathieu Berson are likely to be surplus to O'Leary's requirement.

Angel has scored only three Premiership goals this season, Hendrie and Samuel have struggled to hold down a regular spot while Delaney has again been blighted by injury problems.

O'Leary spent nearly £12million last summer in signing Milan Baros, Wilfred Bouma, Aaron Hughes and Kevin Phillips.