10 Players You Didn't Know Aston Villa Almost Signed
7. Juninho
Brazilian midfielder Juninho came close to joining Aston Villa while he was with Spanish side Atletico Madrid in 1999. Reportedly unhappy with the Atletico coach at the time, Juninhos agent Gianna Paladini revealed that his client would be very interested in joining the Midlands club. Juninho would like to play for Aston Villa because he likes John Gregory's ways and the fact that he has a successful team. If he came back to England, Villa would be in his sights. Juninho met John Gregory a few months ago and was impressed." The prospective move was further backed up by Peter White of the Guardian, who said: Gregory will fly to Spain to finalise personal terms with Juninho, after Villa and Atletico Madrid agreed a £10 million transfer fee. The player is set to sign a four-year contract with Villa, worth £30,000 a week in wages as well as a £2 million signing-on fee. However, Juninho didnt make the move to Aston Villa in the end, and embarked upon a series of loan moves to Middlesbrough, Vasco de Gama and Flamengo before exiting Atletico on a permanent basis to join Middlesbrough for a third time.
Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.
