New Aston Villa signing Jhon Duran will hope he can be as popular as the last Colombian forward to play for the club.
The 19-year-old will join the Premier League club in an £18million deal from MLS outfit Chicago Fire.
Aston Villa announced the news on Monday, with it being subject to Duran passing a medical, agreeing personal terms and getting a visa.
Say the words Colombia striker to any Villa fans and their face will light up. That’s because they immediately think of Juan Pablo Angel.
The club signed him from River Plate in 2001 for a then record fee of £9.5m. He had a fearsome record in South America, scoring 46 times in 96 games for the Argentine side.
It took a little while for Angel to get going in a Villa shirt, but when he did he quickly became a fan favourite.
That feeling was mutual as he fell in love with the club, although he was a bit economical with the truth when convincing his wife to move to The Midlands.
He told The Times: “I told my wife, ‘Look: this is the club and the city where they want us to go, what do you think?’ So I looked up Birmingham and showed her the photos, and the photos were in summer with brilliant sunshine, flowers everywhere.
“My wife said: ‘Look how nice it looks’. I arrived on January 8 or 10, something like that – cold, dark, the sun didn’t come out. [I thought] ‘Where did they take these photos?’ But I ended up adapting and falling in love with the culture and everything to do with Aston Villa.”
Angel scored 44 goals in 175 Premier League appearances for Villa, behind only Gabriel Agbonlahor, Dwight Yorke and Dion Dublin.
He admitted his start to life at the club was ‘traumatic’ because he couldn’t speak a word of English and only was able to communicate with David Ginola through broken Italian, that he’d started learning for a different transfer that never materialised.
He scored 16 Premier League goals in his best season for the club, but off the field problems certainly hampered the team’s progress.
In just six full seasons, Angel played under four managers – John Gregory, Graham Taylor, David O’Leary and finally Martin O’Neill.
His opportunities were limited at the end under O’Neill and in 2007 he headed to New York Red Bulls.
That time is fondly remembered by Villa fans and by Angel himself.
He continued to The Times: “Normally to leave memories at a club you have to be a protagonist, fight for a championship, win a title or be [the league’s] top scorer, and, in truth, I was a long way from that.
“Football fans also appreciate quality, and they saw a special quality in me for the club I was playing for. And then with the people of Aston Villa, I think the true football fans appreciated not just that, but also the respect I showed in giving everything. Some people knew a bit about the story of what was happening with me, and they appreciated that even more.”
He was a hero for many, including a young Jack Grealish. In 2019, Grealish was finally able to meet his hero as Angel returned to the club for the first time since he left.
“I remember watching you as a kid, you were obviously my favourite player scoring all the goals,” Grealish told him. “I’ve never had the chance to meet you before, so it’s a pleasure.”
Angel also got the chance to meet John Terry again, who was Dean Smith’s assistant at the same time.
Villa fans will fondly remember the striker’s League Cup goal against Chelsea in 2003, when he rounded a stunned Terry to lash home from range.
The signing of a new Colombian player may get Villa fans feeling nostalgic for the old days and will hope manager Unai Emery can get the best out of Duran.
Keep up to date with all the latest news, rumours and gossip with our LIVE transfer blog
————————
By: Josh Fordham
Title: Aston Villa’s Colombia striker Juan Pablo Angel was a hero to Jack Grealish and stunned Chelsea legend John Terry
Sourced From: talksport.com/football/1305970/aston-villa-colombia-striker-hero-jack-grealish-transfers/
Published Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2023 09:45:00 +0000
