Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill lure for Carew

23 Jan 2007 - 07:41:55

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New Aston Villa striker John Carew admitted the lure of working with Martin O'Neill persuaded him to move to the Premiership after completing his transfer from Lyon with Milan Baros heading in the opposite direction.

The Norway international has signed a three-and-a-half year deal at Villa Park and will fill the void left by the departure of Baros to the French champions.

Carew, 27, has played for Valencia and Roma, but is looking forward to making his mark in the Premiership.

"I've played in many places in Europe, but not in the Premiership, so I'm looking forward to the challenge here," he told the club's official website.

"Martin O'Neill is a great manager, very well respected, and I'm really looking forward to working with him.

"I don't know too much about the squad here, but I do know some of the players I have played against - especially the defenders.

"Aston Villa is a big English club and I've always known about the team. There is a big interest in the team in my country (Norway), so I'm really happy to be here."

Meanwhile, Villa are set to conclude the deal to sign Watford's Ashley Young for a fee that could rise to £9.5million on Tuesday.