BAROS CONFIRMS CHELSEA LINK
New Lyon striker Milan Baros has confirmed he was on the verge of
joining Chelsea from Aston Villa before leaving the Premiership for
France. The 25-year-old told Czech daily Sport the switch fell
through due to Shaun Wright-Phillips' reluctance to leave the
champions for Villa Park.
Baros said: "I agreed [to the move] with Chelsea. It was
practically a finished thing. Everything broke down over the fact
Wright-Phillips did not want to go to Aston Villa. "And coach
Martin O'Neill told me that without any replacement, he would not
let me go as he would not have any strikers left."
Baros, who signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at the Stade Gerland
with Norwegian John Carew going in the opposite direction, admitted
talking to Blues coach Jose Mourinho after the goalless Premiership
game at Villa Park on January 2.
"We just spoke about the match," said the former Liverpool
frontman. "Just after the game in the tunnel he told me that he
wanted me to join the team and asked me if I was interested. I told
him so. But it did not happen in the end."
When asked if he was sorry the move did not come off, Baros The
Czech Republic international replied: "I would be sorry if I went
to a worse club, but now I am at Lyon."
