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Carew: Keen to 'put roots down'

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Aston Villa striker John Carew insists he is 'really happy' at the club and is not looking to move on.

The Norwegian was Villa's top scorer last season with 13 goals to catch the eye of a number of clubs across Europe as Martin O'Neill's side finished sixth in the Premier League.

And there has been speculation that Carew, who joined Villa from Lyon in a swap deal for Milan Baros in 2007, could be heading for pastures new to add to his reputation as a journeyman player.

But Carew - who has also played for the likes of Rosenborg, Valencia, Roma, and Besiktas - is adamant he wants to stay at Villa Park beyond the two years remaining on his current deal.

No rush

"I have two years more on my contract so there is no rush with anything," Carew said. "But I am very happy to be here and I would like to stay for many years more.

"If that is the club's wish, then that is my wish as well. We will see what happens. But I would like to stay here for a long time.

"I really like it here, am really happy here, so I am absolutely open for that. I would like to put roots down here for a quite a long time.

"It is a league that really suits me well and I am happy with the football and really enjoy playing it. That is important to me."

European challenge

Meanwhile, Carew is looking forward to Villa's forthcoming Intertoto Cup campaign after impressive performances from his team-mates in pre-season training.

"It is good to be back and we have some important matches coming up. We now have the Intertoto in two weeks which is very important," Carew added.

"But the players have come back a bit more fitter than normal from their vacation as well. All the physical tests up until now indicate that.

"So, even though the Intertoto matches are not far away, I think we will be quite well prepared and we've got two or three games before that to help with those preparations."