A Tale Of Three Strikers

According to the Sunday Mercury, David O'Leary tried to tempt Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez into swapping Juan Pablo Angel for Fernando Morientes.

Rafael Benitez has been linked to Angel before during his reign as Valencia manager and O'Leary tried to tempt the Liverpool boss to part with Morientes in a direct player swap.

Angel, who missed Saturday's game against Sunderland with a knee injury, has been in disappointing form once again this season and is slowly falling down the Villa Park pecking order. He has failed to score in the league and has only started six of his twelve appearances.

Morientes has failed to live up to expectations following his move from Madrid in the 2005 transfer window despite an excellent international pedigree.

Angel has two years left on his contract and is rumoured to be on around £30 000 a week. He is sure to be as shocked as everyone else should this report prove true. It certainly seems at present that he needs a move to kick start his career, as the Columbian is stagnating following just one spectacular season for Villa.

Meanwhile both Villa and Cardiff have been linked to MK Don's 21 year old striker Izale McLeod who has scored 24 goals in 58 league games since his move from Derby in 2004. This is no doubt paper talk, as he was linked to Wolverhampton Wanderers last month! The report suggests he would cost in the region of £1million.