Martin Laursen: A quiet arrival, but a giant in the Aston Villa defence
Martin Laursen’s arrival was so low-key you could have been forgiven for thinking Villa had signed a new ballboy.
Following a swift medical, the £3million defender was introduced to a smattering of reporters who had gathered at The Belfry Hotel, in Wishaw.
Manager David O’Leary was elsewhere. Perhaps the Irishman had wanted better than the 26-year-old Dane, who had been capped 33-times and had previously cost AC Milan £8.7million from Parma after just two training sessions.
Certainly O’Leary’s comments a few months later would suggest as much.
“I’m not talking top of the range, but he fitted in with our budget,” said the Villa manager.
Laursen was by no means an unknown quantity – 12 months earlier he had turned down Wolves and then-Villa boss Graham Taylor had scouted him before the 2002 World Cup.
“I recommended him to the board but at the time we had Alpay and also had the Bosko Balaban situation,” said Taylor. “I thought he would be a good acquisition but it never got that far.”
Taylor signed Ronny Johnsen on a free transfer instead.
Laursen, a boyhood Milan fan, had become frustrated behind Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta and Antonio Costacurta. The arrival of Jaap Stam from Manchester United would curtail his chances further.
“After six years in Italy, I feel ready to go to the Premier League,” he said after rejecting Feyenoord. “I am hungry. I want to test myself and to try to do well in England.”
The aim in 2004 for Villa was exactly what it remains today – European qualification.
Despite having made only three league starts for Milan during that last season, national coach Morten Olsen was convinced that Villa had pulled off a coup.
“Laursen doesn’t make any mistakes. He never does in the national squad. He is a very wise player and he still gets enough matches in Milan,” Olsen said.
His debut in a 2-1 friendly defeat at Walsall gave no hint of the impact he would make in years to come, .
“I don’t want to be horrible but I thought Laursen looked a bit shaky,” said Walsall boss Paul Merson. But his league debut in a win over Southampton was impressive.
