Taylor had been optimistic that he could hang on to the services of the 29--year-old World Cup finalist who is understood to be attracting the interest of Borussia Dortmund.

But the writing has been on the wall for most of the summer and Alpay had criticised the club’s lack of ambition in the Turkish media after returning from Japan and Korea.

He had been one of the stars of the World Cup and was named in the FIFA team of the tournament for his performances in helping Turkey reach the semi-finals.

That has caused his value to rocket and Villa would expect to recuperate more than the £5.6m they paid Fenerbahce for his services two years ago.

Alpay admitted that he was upset at the way he was treated after injuring his ankle last December against Leicester City.

He eventually went to see a specialist in Germany to sort out the problem and there was speculation at one stage that Villa were reluctant to pay the medical costs, although they are now to undertake that.

He said: “Over the last 10 days I have had meetings to stay at Aston Villa and I am disappointed with the way they have gone.

“There is no point in me playing if I am not happy because I won’t be any good for the team and it could affect other friends in the team.

“My unhappiness started because of the way I was treated after the injury last year.

“It has nothing to do with money, and Villa asked to pay my medical bills, but the impression I got is that Villa didn’t care for me.

“This has broken my heart. I was in the World Cup select 16.

“If my price has gone up as a result then Villa will benefit.”