Milan Baros

[RobB]

It`s been as protracted a transfer as I can remember, but it looks close now.



Villa have this afternoon agreed terms with Liverpool for striker Milan Baros.

The Czech international will now undergo a medical, with a view to signing a four-year deal tomorrow.

Operations Director Steve Stride told www.avfc.co.uk : "We've reached an agreement with Liverpool to sign the player and the next step is for him to have a medical. Hopefully we can soon conclude the deal."

[guignol]

a real slap in the face for OL. baros turns down more money and the CL to play for villa? :eek:

[RobB]

Aston Villa have completed the signing of Czech Republic striker Milan Baros from Liverpool for £6.5m.

The 23-year-old, who fell out of favour with Reds boss Rafa Benitez, has signed a four-year deal with Villa after passing a medical on Tuesday.

He`s signed. Thank god for that.

I think he`s the perfect player for us. An international, 24 y/o, quick, exciting, can score goals, wants to play for us and can partner either Phillips or Angel.

He`s not prolific, but then if he was he would have gone to Barca or somewhere. If he can get 15 goals this season and assist another 6 or 7 then a top six finish is on. Especially if JPA and SKP weigh in with their share.

As for him turning down Lyon, I think it was more to do with Houllier than anything else.

We bid £6m for Bellamy and he went to Blackburn, who offered £4.5m, so it happened to us a couple of months ago.

In that case Bellamy wanted to play for Mark Hughes, the Blackburn manager.

[Pibe#10]

I want to see Baros play up front with Ángel, we need Ángel scoring for the upcoming match against Uruguay. It sucks that Villa's midfield is so weak right now.

[ROMERO879]

naw not really..

its been said many many times before, everything is good untill the attacking line. now baros is a great addition there and villa looks like a stronger team.

[Pibe#10]

I didn't say it was bad, it's just that right now they are playing pretty weak right now.

[RobB]

What we`ve lacked for a while is pace. Two seasons ago when Angel scored 23 goals he benefited from Darius Vassell running into wide areas, taking defenders away and creating space for him to exploit.

When Vassell broke is ankle last season and was out for five months(and slower when he returned) Angel was crowded out and got little service getting 9 goals. In fact JP was actually taking opposing defenders away, so our midfielders could score but nobody was returning the favour.

O`Leary doesn`t normally play with wingers so we needed a quick striker who can run into wide areas, collect a pass and then carry the ball, drawing defenders to him and creating space in the middle for his strike partner. Baros is perfect for that and I`m sure he can partner both Phillips and JP.

Overall I`m reasonably happy with our midfield when we can play our first choice. Barry on the left, Solano right, McCann holding and Davis or Hendrie the attacking midfielder. Davis is only 19 though and his inexperience sometime shows.

[Witton]

I'm not convinced about Baros, he's spat his dummy a few times while at L'pool and the last thing the Villa need is a disruptive influence. He's got pace & a certain amount of skill but I worry about the amount of chances he wastes. Thats OK when you've got Gerrard/Alonso/Garcia etc creating a load of chances but when it's McCann/Barry/Solano in midfield it could be costly. Anyway I've got him in my Fantasy footy team & I hope it works out - could be the first really exciting striker at VP since Yorke. I've given my ticket for todays game to my sister, instead I'll be watching Redditch Utd in the Conference North with one eye on the test match.....

UP THE VILLA

[RobB]

10 minutes in against Blackburn and Baros has scored! Phillips set him up.

[RobB]

Ended 1-0. Great debut from Milan, looks like money well spent.

[stevieg987]

He should of had a hat trick if it wasnt for great goal keeping he was phenomenal.

[Pibe#10]

Ended 1-0. Great debut from Milan, looks like money well spent.

good thing villa won, just saw the scores. How come on the villa website it says that Baros is on loan from Liverpool? I thought Villa bought him?

[RobB]

The web site is wrong if it`s saying we`ve got him on loan. £6m with £500k based on appearances was the deal (bargain).

It was a much needed win.

I was slightly surprised Angel didn`t play. O`Leary said he was going to play Baros for 90 minutes so I thought Phillips and Angel might get 60 mins and 30 mins between them. The partnership between SKP and JPA was looking so good though, O`Leary must have decided to leave them both on. JP will get game-time this season but really needs to score on his next appearance to keep himself in contention for a starting place.

Baros` constant running, pace, awareness and goal threat mean it`s going to be a question of who partners him, SKP laid a strong claim today.

Watching some of the highlights of the game I was surprised how good Baros was in the air. A couple of times he won a header, knocking it down to a team mate, then ran to collect the return pass, thats how his goal came about if I remember right.

It was only one game but he does seem to be an all round complete striker. Why Liverpool sold him and bought Crouch is a mystery. If they sell Cisse and buy Owen then it will be even more surprising.