Past playersMilan Baros

Acclaimed by scouts for his finishing aplomb, then Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier had been tracking the young forward for several seasons before capturing his man to add competition up front.

Baros made his debut for the club as a substitute in March 2002 during a Champions League tie at Barcelona's Nou Camp; but, with Robbie Fowler and Jari Litmanen departing to new clubs, 2002-03 would be the striker's genuine breakthrough campaign.

Houllier selected the Czech on 42 occasions - often from the bench - and the international rewarded his manager's faith with a respectable 12 strikes in all competitions. The future seemed bright.

But Baros lost five months of action with a broken ankle suffered at Blackburn Rovers and subsequently fell out of favour during the season that followed. He was restricted to a handful of games and only two goals.

Baros would later explain his despondence during that period, but good - great, even - times were just around the corner - beginning with a five-goal haul for his national team at the 2004 European Championship.

When new manager Rafael Benitez lost Michael Owen to Real Madrid at the outset of the 2004-05 campaign, the onus was on Baros to fill the Englishman's shoes. A personal-best 13 goals and effective work ethic ensured he was not too far off.

And most notably, Baros led the line across Europe for the Reds as they reached Istanbul and recorded an unbelievable penalties victory over AC Milan in the Champions League final - their No.5 contributed two goals along the way too.

Once the celebrations had concluded Benitez was keen to put sentiment to one side and, having introduced Peter Crouch to the squad, the Spaniard felt comfortable in transferring Baros to Aston Villa.