Aston Villa had agreed a £9.5million fee with the player's club, River Plate, the player had passed a medical and Villa had secured a work permit.

But the player's agent was said to own a percentage of Angel and as such Villa had to pay more than one party for his services.

FIFA Statutes say that an agent cannot own any part of a player and also that transfer fees must only be paid to one party. This duly scuppered the deal.

Eventually River Plate bought the player's contract so the deal could be finalised and chairman Doug Ellis then sanctioned the transfer.

Angel is a Colombian international with a terrific goalscoring record with River Plate in the Argentinian league. He had hit an average of a goal a game in his 95 appearances.

After signing he said: 'Sure it's another country, another culture, another system of playing, but I want to adapt as soon as possible.'

Struggled to settle at first when his wife encountered complications during the birth of their first child - something which the British media seemed eager to dismiss in their damning criticism of the player's performances.

Villa boss John Gregory defender his record buy, and in the 200102 season Angel got off to a bang. Went on to score 16 goals that season, but events off the pitch dominated again.

Gregory's decision to leave the club immediately fuelled speculation that Angel would head for the continent, and in the summer of 2002 new boss Graham Taylor bought Marcus Allback as a replacement.