Villa to hold fresh Vassell talks

Aston Villa are to hold a fresh round of talks with striker Darius Vassell aimed at persuading him to finally sign a new long-term contract.

Vassell has only 12 months left of his current deal with the midlands club and the England striker could then leave on a Bosman free in the Summer of 2004.

Previous Villa manager Graham Taylor wanted Vassell to commit himself to the club as early as April 2002.

But his advisors SFX were against such a move but now more talks are now planned between both parties.

New Villa boss David O’Leary has already indicated that he wants to secure the services of the Vassell who gave another impressive performance as a substitute for England against Slovakia on Wednesday.

O’Leary said: “Darius is highly prized asset and it is an asset we want to keep at Villa Park. He is a wonderful player with great potential.”

Vassell is currently on only around £5,000 (€7,066) a week but he could expect to at least triple his weekly wage should he agree to a new deal.

The player has already intimated that he would be more than willing to stay at Villa but the contract has been a constant stumbling block.

Last season Vassell struggled to reproduce the form of 2001-2002 although he still ended up with 11 goals for Villa.