TalkSport claim that Villa are in competition with Premier League rivals Everton for Cagliari striker Alessandro Matri. Houllier continues to be linked with forward reinforcements despite the signing of Darren Bent after John Carew left the club for Stoke on loan. 26-year-old Matri was a late starter at top flight level after learning his trade at AC Milan. He made just the one appearance for the Italian giants before switching Serie A for Serie B in loan spells with the likes of Prato, Lumezzane and Rimini. Impressive performances at the lower level earned him a move back to the top level of Italian football with Cagliari in a deal which saw David Suazo join Milan. In 123 games in all competitions for Cagliari started slowly, having scored 12 in his first two seasons (65 games). Last season was his most profitable, scoring 13 times in 38 games and setting up 7. This year his goals to minutes ratio has improved having scored 9 goals in 18 starts (21 total) at a rate of 1 every 178 minutes (under 2 games). In my opinion he bares a striking resemblance to former Villa favourite Juan Pablo Angel but that could just be me! Haven’t heard of this guy in all honesty, or of a price but thought I’d report the link and scrub up on his stats!
