VILLA FINALLY LAND ANGEL
The proposed club record transfer £9.5 million deal had seemed to have fallen through after the FA and Fifa announced that they cannot accept the projected payment plans of the fee.
Part of Angel's contract is owned by his agent Gustavo Mascardi and this was the main obstacle to the deal going through but these problems have now been resolved to allow the 25-year-old to complete his protracted move to Villa Park.
Villa had kept contact with River Plate throughout all the complications hoping to reach to a favourable conclusion and they have been finally rewarded in their persistence to sign the highly rated frontman.
Click here for our earlier story Angel Deal Can Be Revived.
Villa chairman Doug Ellis is delighted to have finally secured the signing of Angel after all the delays.
"We are delighted to have secured Angel during a turbulent week of both rumour and pure conjecture," Ellis told the club's official website.
"For the last seven days we have all worked towards a positive conclusion but following Fifa's initial intervention, we had to be 100% certain the deal would not again collapse before making this announcement.
"The manager and board members have all worked tirelessly to resurrect the transfer. It has undoubtedly been a difficult week, but ultimately we all feel it has been worth it.
"It is true to say there was a period this week when the problems appeared insurmountable and we therefore made an enquiry regarding the availability of Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler.
"However, on receipt of assurances concerning the signing of Juan Pablo Angel, we immediately curtailed our interest to secure our number one target."
The signing ends a long exhaustive search for Villa boss John Gregory, who has been frustrated in his attempts to sign a top class striker all season most notably Benni McCarthy from Celta Vigo.
Gregory admitted that Angel is always a player he has followed with interest and he hopes he can score the goals to lift Villa up the table.
"He is the player I have always wanted," said Gregory.
Angel is set to travel to England over the weekend to complete the deal pending a medical and he could make his debut against Manchester United next weekend at Old Trafford.
