The sight of Milan Baros on the Bodymoor Heath training pitch yesterday provided a timely boost to Aston Villa but also a reminder of how many European clubs are interested in the Czech Republic international striker.
Baros, the leading scorer at Euro 2004, is still trying to overcome the foot injury that diminished his effect at the World Cup in June but he is nearing full fitness and expects to be fit to face West Ham United next month.
Martin O'Neill, the Villa manager, says that Baros has a significant role to play in the immediate future of the club. Just as importantly, Baros appears to agree and has indicated that he wants to remain with the club.
But the vultures are circling Villa Park. SV Hamburg, the German Bundesliga club, have spent the entire summer trying to pursue Baros but have already had one offer turned down. Schalke 04, of Gelsenkirchen, are also keeping an eye on the situation while there is interest in Italy.
Baros cut a contented figure at Bodymoor Heath yesterday - "I trained and it [the foot] is feeling good," he said - and he will have noted the dramatic improvement in the atmosphere within the club since O'Neill's arrival.
O'Neill has lamented the injury that Baros sustained just before the World Cup but emphasised the need to keep hold of the striker, who moved to Villa from Liverpool in August 2005 for £6.5 million.
"There was more than a passing interest in Milan [from abroad]," O'Neill said. "But I am not aware of anything new, since I took charge. I want to dissuade him, at this moment, from going and I think he will be happy with that - if he felt he was definitely going to part of proceedings, and why shouldn't he be?
"He left here, before he went to the World Cup, perfectly all right and he came back to us unfit. He has not had any surgery from our side. He hurt it in training with the Czech Republic and I think that they wanted him to play [against Italy] when he was not properly fit.
"He played when he was not fit. It has happened; it's gone. I cannot undo it but he is back in our care. He is back in training and he said he did not feel so bad."
Baros, aged 24, scored eight goals in 24 Premiership appearances for Villa last season. He did not come close to producing the form that enabled him to win a European Cup winners' medal with Liverpool in 2005 but he is likely to be more settled this time around. He has three years to run on his contract.
Villa could be set to open talks with Gareth Barry, the new captain, over a new contract if the midfield player opts to remain at Villa Park. O'Neill has no doubts that Barry, like Baros, has an important role to play for Villa over the next few years.
It is believed that one reason why O'Neill gave Barry the captaincy was to help convince the player to sign a new deal. But Barry, who has been with Villa for nine years and is still only 25, was the subject of interest from Ports mouth and Tottenham Hotspur.
"We want to keep Gareth at the club," O'Neill said. "He has got two years left of his contract and I would like him to be around for longer than that. He is the captain and, if it means he will stay, he can be captain for another 150 years, as far as I am concerned.
"I see no reason why we shouldn't be thinking now about a new contract. It's normally between a year and two years left when people would sit down and talk anyway. There might be an opportunity for us to do it. But nothing has been resolved. Whatever disillusionment Gareth felt about the place might not have all dissipated. I'm hopeful we can keep him but nothing is guaranteed. I have spoken to Gareth and he knows my views. I think he would get the message, we want him to stay.
"But when you have had a fairly lengthy time at a club you keep your counsel for a while and that might be Gareth's view. I can't say I'm in control of the situation but I'm trying to do something about it."
Barry was superb against Arsenal last Saturday and O'Neill, never one to succumb to hyperbole, suggested that the player has the attributes necessary to reclaim a place in the England squad.
Barry made his first England appearance six years ago, when still a teenager, but reached a plateau. He was one of Villa's better players last season but never fitted into the plans of Sven-Goran Eriksson, the previous England head coach, who lamented a perceived lack of pace. Now that Steve McClaren has replaced Eriksson, Barry's spirits have risen. Whether those spirits have soared high enough for Barry to feel good about his career with Villa remain to be seen.
