Taylor's Angel plea

Angel top-scored for Villa last season

Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor has urged unsettled striker Juan Pablo Angel to stay and fight for his place after receiving no summer bids for the Colombian.

Taylor is expecting £9.5m club record signing Angel to report back for pre-season training with the rest of his non-World Cup participants on Monday.

The former River Plate player has already intimated that he wants to quit Villa.

He is still unhappy at the way he and his family were treated by the club when they came to England 18 months ago.

Even Taylor has admitted that he is "coming from a long way behind" in trying to persuade last season's 16-goal top scorer to stay.

The simple fact is that Juan Pablo Angel remains an Aston Villa player

Graham Taylor

Villa will be looking to recoup the majority, if not all, of the outlay made by then-manager John Gregory in December 2000.

But the club have received no bids for Angel's services over the summer so far.

Taylor said: "The simple fact is that Juan Pablo Angel remains an Aston Villa player.

"We have not received an offer for him so there is nothing new to report.

"Like all our players who have not been on World Cup duty, he returns for pre-season training on Monday.

Villa insist Angel stays

"We have tremendous competition for places up front and, as things stand, Juan Pablo is competing with Darius Vassell, Peter Crouch, Dion Dublin, Bosko Balaban and Marcus Allback.

"They all have to fight for their places."

Angel has switched agents in an effort to help him leave Villa and move to one of Europe's top clubs.