Baros buy puts Angel under threat

Aston Villa’s record signing Juan Pablo Angel could find his place under severe threat with the arrival of Milan Baros from Liverpool in a £6.5m (€9.5) move.

Villa manager David O’Leary claims Baros, who will complete the move once he passes a medical today, will “give us the spark that we need up front”.

That “spark” has certainly been lacking in the performances of Angel during the past 12 months after he scored 23 goals during the 2003-04 campaign.

He was admittedly hampered by a knee injury during the early part of last season but even when he gained full fitness he looked a shadow of the player of the previous campaign.

The Colombia striker managed just seven Premiership goals in 2004-05 and the lack of edge about his performances carried over into the opening game of the current campaign at home to Bolton.

Angel, signed from River Plate for £9.5m (€13.9m) four and a half years ago, had to plough a lone furrow up front in Saturday’s single-goal defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford with Kevin Phillips being injured.

But the capture of Baros and the likelihood that O’Leary will show faith in summer signing Phillips, who scored on his debut against Bolton, could mean Angel no longer being an automatic first choice.

Only a return to the form of two years ago is likely to stop Angel from losing his place when O’Leary has all his strikers available with Baros likely to make his debut in Saturday’s home Premiership clash with Blackburn.

Baros will be relieved to finally sort out his future after looking set last month to join Schalke, with whom he agreed terms only for the German club to then decide they wanted to sign him on loan.

Gerrard Houllier, now in charge of Lyon, tabled an £8m (€11.7m) bid but Baros had little desire to work again with his former Liverpool manager who had signed him from Banik Ostrava in 2001.