Villa chief executive Paul Faulkner has denied making a cut-price move for Peterborough keeper Joe Lewis after chairman Barry Fry stated that the Midlands club had made an ‘insulting’ offer for the England Under-21 international stopper. Houllier is known to be on the lookout for a long-term replacement and is keen to source new alternatives after being quashed in his liking for Roman Weidenfeller after the German signed a new long-term contract at Dortmund. Lewis is now the fourth young England stopper to have been linked with the club after previous reports suggested the French manager was harboring an interest in Watford’s Scott Loach, Middlesbrough’s Jason Steele and Huddersfield’s Alex Smithies. Lewis joined Posh from Norwich two years ago for a fee of around £400k and has since earned himself 5 England Under-21 caps. At 6’5″ he fits the Friedel-esque mould that Houllier is thought to be after, after ruling out a move for Rangers keeper Allan McGregor due to his measly 6 foot frame! Lewis, now 23, has been a mainstay in the ‘Boro team though despite the club being one of the favourites for promotion in League One, the keeper has kept just 3 clean sheets in 21 appearances, conceding an average of 2 goals a game. After handing in a transfer request earlier in the week, a number of clubs have expressed an interest though Peterborough claim that Villa’s offer was below that of what they paid for the young stopper 2 years ago and came way below their valuation.
