Villa agree fee for keeper
12 Jul 2008 - 11:13:59
Aston Villa would appear to have ended their interest in Scott Carson after agreeing a fee with MLS side Chivas USA to sign American goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
The 24-year-old US international will now travel to Villa Park for talks following a summer when he has been linked with a host of clubs across Europe.
Villa had seemed likely to make Carson's loan spell at the club throughout last season into a permanent transfer, but reports claim the Midlands club were unwilling to match Liverpool's valuation of the England international.
Instead they have revived their interest in Guzan after initially failing to secure a work permit for the keeper when they first attempted to sign him back in January.
Villa are believed to have agreed a fee of around £1million with Chivas to land the highly-rated shot-stopper, who is regarded as one of the brightest homegrown prospects in Major League Soccer.
Guzan replaced Everton keeper Tim Howard at half-time during the USA's 2-0 friendly defeat by England at Wembley in May.
"He's leaving for Europe, to England specifically, and we're very happy and very glad that another Chivas player is going to Europe," club director Jorge Vergara told the Los Angeles Times.
Villa boss Martin O'Neill has been desperate to bolster his goalkeeping options this summer after handing former number one Thomas Sorensen a free transfer at the end of the season.