Juan Pablo Angel - Striker Date of Birth: October 24, 1975 Birthplace: Medellin, Colombia Nationality: Colombian Height: 1.84m/6'1" Previous Clubs: River Plate (Argentina) Joined Villa: January 15, 2001 Acquisition Price: £9,5 million Debut: January 20, 2001 vs Manchester United (a) Contract expires: Summer 2008

Juan Pablo Angel arrived at Aston Villa after plenty of difficulty. His club - Argentinian River Plate - had already aggreed the £9.5 million offer from Aston Villa when the FA stepped in and said that the method of payment was illegal! Soon after, while John Gregory tried to sort out the deal, Doug Ellis pulled out of the deal, Financial Director Mark Ansell stating that the club didn't want to jeopardise the future of the club over one purchase. No more than three days later, however, the Angel deal was rumoured to be virtually secure, and as dawn came the next day, Juan Pablo Angel had completed the transfer to Villa, and smiles were everywhere to be seen.

Juan Pablo's first season at Villa park was a complete and utter disaster. Some of the "fans" started to boo him off the pitch, and it was very evident, that he was heading for failure at Villa Park. What a lot of those fans actually overlooked, was that for a long time, both his wife and child were seriously ill and his house in Birmingham was burgled three times during his first season. However, John Gregory and Graham Taylor were both very supportive of Angel and knew that patience would be rewarded.

The turning point came the following season (2001/02). A completely changed Angel started producing some blistering performances for Aston Villa, hammering in goals by the truckload, and he is now a hero at Villa Park.