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Lyon sign Baros in Carew swap deal
LYON, France (AFP) - Czech international forward Milan Baros left Aston Villa for Lyon with giant Norwegian forward John Carew heading in the other direction, the French champions said.
Baros signed a three-and-a-half year deal and could now come into the reckoning for Lyon´s clash with Bordeaux on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old had already been approached by Lyon 18 months ago but opted to join Villa from Liverpool instead.
However, he rejoins former manager Gerard Houllier, who signed him from Banik Ostrava in 2002 during his Liverpool reign.
"Eighteen months ago I never thought I had made a bad decision," said Baros. "I weighed up Lyon´s offer. This is a different opportunity and I will try to bring everything that I can."
Houllier was pleased to finally land his man, a year and a half after claiming he would never give a player a second chance to turn him down.
"He wanted to join us and I wanted to improve our attack," said the Frenchman.
"He is a good player and should do well for Lyon. He´s a hard worker. He will link up well with the squad and will give us something extra that we don´t have at present."
Houllier also vowed to use Baros more than he had done Carew, while also moving to assure young forward Karim Benzema that this signing did not single the end of his first team opportunities.
Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas hailed a prestigious signing.
"He´s one of the European strikers who has made the best impression on us over the last few years," said Aulas.
Carew has yet to sign his deal with the English Premiership side but is expected to do so shortly.
Meanwhile, Lyon are tracking Rangers centre-back Jeremy Clement, who is also interesting his former boss at the Glasgow giants, Paul Le Guen, now in charge of Paris St Germain.
"I really hope he comes to Lyon and I don´t think it would be a good thing for him to go to Paris," said Houllier.
Clement started his career at Lyon but made little impression on the first team and joined Rangers last close season in a 1.5 million euro deal. He was reportedly meeting with Le Guen on Monday.
Aulas admitted it may be hard to match PSG´s offer for the player.
"We have to come to an agreement with his club given that PSG have made a very good offer," said Aulas.
"I don´t know if we can match it but we have to be sure the player wants to come here.
"We have made an offer to Rangers but we also have other avenues to explore.
"Gerard Houllier´s priority is Jeremy Clement, if it´s not too late, but playing at Lyon on the four fronts (the league, Cup, League Cup and Champions League) that we are still involved in is also a challenge that may interest him."
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