More bad Journalism from the Daily Star !

MART’S £3M RAID ON CUP HERO STEVE
ABOVE: Steve Howard3rd April 2008 By Dave Armitage Your Shout
Aston Villa plan a £3m end-of-season raid to land Barnsley’s FA Cup hero Brian Howard.


Boss Martin O’Neill will swoop the minute the season finishes as he busily sets about boosting his faltering squad.



The 25-year-old midfielder and captain is first on his shopping list.




He will also try to persuade Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to move to Villa Park.




The 32-year-old Finland international is a free agent in the summer after 11 seasons at the Reebok and O’Neill will lure him with a bumper pay packet.




The Villa boss will waste no time solving his goalkeeping situation after baulking at the £10m price tag Liverpool have put on on-loan Scott Carson.




O’Neill has been satisfied with Carson this season, but his valuation is nowhere near Anfield’s and the England keeper seems certain to be sent back to Liverpool.




Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is also a known admirer of Jaaskelainen and Villa could head an auction for his services given there is no fee.




But it’s Howard who O’Neill is keen to recruit after the all-action star helped mastermind Barnsley’s astonishing run to the FA Cup semi-finals.




Howard put himself in the shop window with a stunning 20-yard last-gasp winner to sink Liverpool at Anfield and then played a starring role as they beat Chelsea.




Signing Jasskelainen and Howard would signal only the start of what seems sure to be a frantic summer of wheeler-dealing at Villa.




Billionaire owner Randy Lerner could put as much as £40m at O’Neill’s disposal.




Striker John Carew, who limped off during the 4-0 thrashing at Manchester United, is recovering from a groin problem and could face Bolton on Saturday.

 

Who's going to score if Howard leaves ? nt

 

No one.