Angel set for cut-price switch to States

Aston Villa's club record signing Juan Pablo Angel is on the verge of completing a move to Major League side New York Red Bulls.

Angel, who cost Villa £9.5m from River Plate six and a half years ago, is close to tying up a two-year contract with the MLS outfit.

Villa are making no comment on the possibility of the deal going through, but sources in the United States indicate the move is well advanced to sign the Colombia international.

Red Bulls are prepared in effect to take over the final year of Angel's £40,000-a-week contract, and add a further 12-month deal for the 31-year-old.

Angel began the season in the first team under Martin O'Neill and scored seven goals by Christmas.

But with the signings of John Carew from Lyon and Ashley Young from Watford during the January transfer window, the emergence of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Luke Moore's recovery from a shoulder problem, Angel has slipped down the pecking order.