Man United target Ron Vlaar DEMANDS Aston Villa double his salary to convince him to stay

ASTON VILLA will have to double Ron Vlaar's wages to have any chance of keeping him away from Manchester United.

PAY UP: Villa will to stump up the cash to keep the Dutchman

United boss Louis van Gaal is heading the battle to sign the Dutch international defender, with a host of other top clubs also keen.

World Cup star Vlaar, 29, is not among the high earners at Villa Park and his long-term future remains in doubt given the fact he's out of contract in the summer.

When he joined the club from Feyenoord just over two years ago, Villa weren't splashing the cash.

But Vlaar's representatives know he's now holding all the aces because he would be able to leave on a free in June.

Villa boss Paul Lambert will therefore ask the club pull out all the stops to keep the big defender.

But even Villa's potential £50,000-a-week package offer is unlikely to be enough to persuade their captain to stay.

Ex-Holland boss Van Gaal knows Vlaar well and would be happy to snap him up in January rather than wait until the summer.

A £4m bid should be enough to clinch a deal and head off the likes of Tottenham, Everton and Roma who are all monitoring the situation.

Southampton were interested in the summer after Vlaar was acclaimed as one of the defensive stars of the World Cup.

But now he can afford to sit back and see what develops knowing he'll emerge with a bumper deal come what may.

If Villa can't get him tied down they will be forced to take the best offer in the January window rather than lose him for nothing.