Baros could be on his way to Hamburg

ASTON VILLA striker Milan Baros could be on the move after just one season in the midlands having emerged as a leading target for Hamburg.

The German club are understood to be prepared to offer around £8m for Baros — £1m more than Villa paid Liverpool last August.

Twenty-four-year-old Baros finished as Villa’s leading scorer last season with 12 goals, but was only a qualified success. Villa manager David O’Leary had been hoping Baros would make a big impression at the World Cup to increase his value but the Czech international missed out through injury.

O’Leary has already been told by chairman Doug Ellis he will have to sell existing players if he wants to bring in new blood and Baros’s departure should give him some much-needed financial clout.

Hamburg are hopeful of speaking to O’Leary soon to sound his exact position on Baros. But, as an insurance against not being successful in landing Baros, they are also keeping tabs on Nuremberg striker Robert Vittek.