There were some notable absentees from Aston Villa’s flight to Hamburg yesterday morning. Paradoxically, those missing from the party for this evening’s Uefa Cup tie most closely represented the untouchables of Martin O’Neill’s squad, but as Gareth Barry, Martin Laursen, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and James Milner were granted a deserved leave of absence to finish off their Christmas shopping, Milner was among those who could not quite keep himself away from the training ground.

A quick diversion through Bodymoor Heath confirmed that Milner’s first response to being labelled “the future, my future” by Fabio Capello, the England manager, was to work even harder. And this from a player who, O’Neill, his club manager, revealed, had risen from his sick bed to play in the victory over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday that took Villa to fourth place in the Barclays Premier League.

There is something of the obsessive compulsive about Milner. He talks like a machine gun about his desire to progress into the England senior side, while appreciating the development that his record stint with the under-21s brings, and he runs all day.

“Every day in training you worry about how hard he works and think that he should ease back at times,” David O’Leary, the manager who first took him to Villa, on loan from Newcastle United in 2005-06, said yesterday. “Fabio Capello’s talking about good people who are outstanding for Aston Villa and who will be outstanding for England.”

O’Leary, in charge at Leeds United when Milner was on the verge of breaking into the first team, was frustrated in his final days at Villa that Doug Ellis, the outgoing chairman, would not finance “the £3 million deal on the table”. O’Neill, O’Leary’s successor, almost sealed a £4 million transfer later that summer, but had to wait two years. “I’m still good friends with José Mourinho and I remember when Villa played Chelsea, he kept saying to me, ‘Look how this boy works up and down for the team’ and that’s James,” O’Leary said. “He might not be the most spectacular player, but he’s one your team-mates might appreciate more than the crowd.”

Kevin Phillips played alongside Milner at Villa that season. “What Capello said is spot on,” said the striker, speaking at the Birmingham City players’ visit to Birmingham Children’s Hospital yesterday. “He is the future of our game because he has something this country lacks. Like Ashley Young, he can take people on, beat them with skill and create chances and he scares the hell out of defenders. He’s got a good shot on him and he’s an intelligent player as well. I look forward to seeing how he develops.”

Young and Agbonlahor have claimed the limelight ever since O’Neill capitalised on Newcastle’s instability to bring Milner back for a club-record £12 million outlay amid interest from Liverpool and Everton. With Villa going so well, Milner had to bide his time before establishing himself as a regular on the right wing. “This is a big step forward for me,” he said. “It is a big, stable club and hopefully I can push on. It is always going to take you a while to settle in. The manager’s policy is if you play well, you stay in the team. That was frustrating for me when I first arrived. But it’s a policy all the lads respect.”

So what has he got? More two-footed than Young, he can play right across the front line, or even in a midfield three. He has a trick in his locker, as he showed when he shimmied his way in from the left in the final minutes against Manchester United last month, almost winning the game, but he also has this cross-country power that enables him to double up as the kind of wing back O’Neill employed with Leicester City and Celtic. The Villa manager has taken to using Carlos Cuéllar, a no-nonsense centre half, at right back, safe in the knowledge that Milner will track all the way back when necessary. That might be why he does not score many goals.

Peter Taylor took Milner to the Toulon under-20 tournament before making him a mainstay of his under-21 team for three years. “He’s a cracking lad,” the Wycombe Wanderers manager said. “He’s got everything: he’s strong, two-footed, knows the game, knows how to beat a man, can play either wing or in a midfield three. You could not meet a better professional.

“If you’re pushing me for one fault, his crossing could improve, but you can bet he’ll be working to put that right. If he improves his end product, then he is the complete player.”

The all-round sportsman who is knocking on the door of England’s senior squad

- He replaced Wayne Rooney as the Premier League’s youngest scorer when getting on the scoresheet for Leeds United at the age of 16 years and 357 days in December 2002.

- He is teetotal. “Not drinking was a decision I made when I was younger,” he says. “I thought, ‘there’s plenty of time to do that when I finish.’ It obviously doesn’t do you any good with your football.”

- He represented Yorkshire Schoolboys at cricket as wicketkeeper and opening batsman. He is a single-handicap golfer, talented cross-country runner, mean darts player and has 11 GCSEs.

- He holds the England record for the most under-21 caps. With 40, and at nearly 23, he is yet to play in the senior squad.

- Should make his 250th senior club appearance against Arsenal on Boxing Day after playing for Leeds, Swindon Town on loan, Newcastle United and Aston Villa before rejoining Villa for a club-record £12 million in August.

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Martin Jol, Hamburg’s manager, said last night that Aston Villa “are better than Arsenal”. Villa and Hamburg are already through to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup before this evening’s final group F encounter. Martin O’Neill, the Villa manager, is likely to include Brad Guzan, Zat Knight, Nicky Shorey, Moustapha Salifou, Nigel Reo-Coker, Marlon Harewood and Nathan Delfouneso in his team. “Aston Villa are better than Arsenal and next season Villa will be playing in the Champions League,” Jol, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, said.