Juan Pablo Angel- £9.5million
Juan joined Villa back in the January transfer window in 2001. As a record signing, there were big expectations for Juan to have a big impact at Villa. In that second half of the season he joined, he played 11 games only scoring 1 goal. It wasn’t the instant impact the Colombian wanted to make, and he struggled to adapt to life in England. In the next season, he was flying and scored 16 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions for Villa, including 4 goals out of 4 games in Europe for them.
The season after it wasn’t as successful at all for him, as Darius Vassell and Dion Dublin was the main attack in the line-up, and Angel struggled to get in the side, making only 19 appearances scoring 3 goals. In 2003-04, he scored his most goals for the club in a season, with a record of 23 in all competitions, and was the first Villa player who scored above the 20 goal mark in the Premier League era. With 16 of them goals in 33 games in the Premiership, in that season he helped Villa to finish 6th.
After finishing up at 6th that season, there were high expectations for Villa in the following season, but disappointingly they dropped back to mid table again, and so did Angel with his goal scoring amount, as he only netted 9 times within the 38 games he played in all season. Even though he stayed in the first team in his last two seasons at Villa, he couldn’t pick back up with goals and only scored 10 goals within his last two seasons at Villa Park. Although he had a disappointing ending to his Villa fairy tale, he was a huge hit with the Villa faithful scoring 62 goals in 132 appearances and the Colombian will never be forgotten to the Villa fans.
Ashley Young- £9.65 million
Young was another superb signing which started the Martin O’Neil era. After signing from Watford at an age of 21, the winger was exactly what Villa would have wanted. It was always going to be hard to get straight into form in the second half of the season he joined, but he kicked off the next season with Villa, and was showing why MON decided to sign him. With many assists and man of the match performances, it concluded in also gaining a call-up to the England side. With 17 assists in his first season in the Premier League, there was no surprise.
Throughout his five seasons at Villa he was a crucial player and a class act. There was no shock when Man United came after him, even though the Villa faithful were gutted he left for United, they knew how good of a player he was and sadly, he did want to leave. Even though he didn’t leave the club in the best way, he was a superb player for Villa and helped them to qualify three times on the trot for the UEFA Cup (now Europa League). He will always go down as one of the best Villa wingers in history.
James Milner- £12million
Milner was another player who was worth the money spent for him from Martin O’Neill. He played alongside Ashley Young in that midfield for Villa and was another crucial player in that era. James had two spells at Villa, the first spell was when he was loaned from Newcastle United in 2005. Milner was in the first team, demonstrating real quality and potential, with some very good performances in the midfield.
Even though that season was disappointing for Villa, this signing wasn’t, and was one of only a few positives throughout the season at Villa Park. He made 27 appearances that campaign, and Villa were bitterly disappointed at the end of the season, when they was on the verge of a deal to sign him permanently, but the talks broke down when Newcastle recalled him from his loan.
Three seasons later he was back at Villa Park for his second spell, this time it was a four-year permanent deal for the Englishmen, and £12 million spent on him by Martin O’Neill. He was a crucial first team player for two seasons running at Villa, playing 43 games in all competitions for Villa, hardly missing a game.
The season after, he only missed two games in the league and scored 7 goals. Once again a brilliant season for him, and for the Villans, as they finished 6th, twice in a row with James Milner in the centre of the midfield. Once again though they let go of a big player at an important time for the club, and like Ashley Young, he moved to a Manchester side, this time Man City. Milner left, after playing the opening game of the 2010-11 season, joining Manchester City for a huge sum of £24 million.
Stewart Downing- £12million
Stewart Downing signed from Middlesbrough for £12 million in the 2009-10 season. He left Middlesbrough following relegation from the Premier League. When he joined, it allowed Milner to play a bigger role for Villa right in the heart of the midfield while Downing played as a left winger. Downing was another brilliant addition by manager Martin O’Neill, and Villa would have been again disappointed that one of their stars left, after only two seasons at the club. Downing soon showed his qualities of why they brought him from Middlesbrough.
Throughout the two seasons, he made 79 appearances and created 11 assists. With him and Ashley Young on the wings and James Milner apart of the centre of midfield, in that 2009-10 season, Villa once again achieved 6th and had European football. With two successful seasons at Villa, they let go of another star for the club, this time to Liverpool. Even though they made a profit off him by selling him for around £20 million, it was another blow letting another big player go. Then, after not reinvesting the money of Downing, Young and Milner correctly, there was no surprise Villa haven’t achieved a top 6 finish ever since then.
Darren Bent- £24million
Out of the five biggest transfer fees, Villa have paid. At times, Bent was prolific and a vital cog to the Villa side scoring 21 goals in 61 games for the Villans.
He had quite a few injuries in his time at Villa which didn’t help, but throughout the four seasons he had some real difficulties with torrid patches due to injuries and a change in manager. It can be argued both ways whether this was an awful signing in the end, for the return the Villa Faithful got for the ex-Spurs man. He will be forever remembered for his debut goal against Manchester City on a chilly January evening. It was a beautiful moment.
