Villa set to unveil Heskey after agreeing£4m deal for England striker with Wigan

23 January 2009 11:56
Collapsed: Emile Heskey was set to return to Liverpool but the deal broke down Manchester City are also understood to have shown late interest, but failed to table a bid. Heskey's career has been reinvigorated by his spell with Wigan, earning him an England recall and a number of Premier League admirers, but it's Villa who have secured the 31-year-old's signature.   More... EXCLUSIVE: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill hopes for£3.5m Emile Heskey thumbs up today Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 2: Ref justice as dubious decisions go Villa's way ASTON VILLA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB Middlesbrough's Mido set to be unveiled at Wigan despite text to Levy about rejoining Spurs Wigan in the Hunt for Palacios replacement after agreeing£5m fee for Reading winger WIGAN FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB The deal reunites Heskey and O'Neill after the pair enjoyed so much success at Leicester during the late 90's and will strengthen Villa's bid to qualify for next season's Champions League. National service: Emile Heskey Heskey's strike rate has often been criticised, but O'Neill is not concerned by his lack of goals. 'Something levelled at Emile is that he doesn't score enough goals and I am sure he probably thinks exactly the same,' said O'Neill. 'But it doesn't mean he hasn't made a massive difference in other areas. Confidence is always a big thing with Emile. When his confidence is high, he is always a player.' And O'Neill is relishing working with Heskey again having followed his career after he left Filbert Street for Anfield for£11m in 2000. 'It would be very difficult not to support someone who was brilliant for you,' said O'Neill. 'He was a young kid at Leicester and was fantastic. 'We were desperately disappointed when he moved but he said he wanted to go and play with Michael Owen at Liverpool, but he did his part for Leicester. 'He signed a new contract and we eventually got£11million for him when he could easily have gone and played abroad for a year, because of his age and the rules at that time, and we wouldn't have got any money. He played fairly by Leicester.'   More... EXCLUSIVE: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill hopes for£3.5m Emile Heskey thumbs up today Sunderland 1 Aston Villa 2: Ref justice as dubious decisions go Villa's way ASTON VILLA FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB Middlesbrough's Mido set to be unveiled at Wigan despite text to Levy about rejoining Spurs Wigan in the Hunt for Palacios replacement after agreeing£5m fee for Reading winger WIGAN FC NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WEB  

Source: Daily_Mail