O'Neill keen to land Saviola and Agathe

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill appears determined to sign Argentina forward Javier Saviola, seen here in June 2006, ahead of the official transfer deadline on August 31.

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill appears determined to bolster the squad ahead of the official transfer deadline.

The former Celtic manager signed the Parkhead side's midfielder Stilian Petrov in an eight million pounds (15 million dollars) deal this week.

However with money to spend after American billionaire Randy Lerner took over the club recently, O'Neill is hoping to land out-of-favour Barcelona striker Javier Saviola and another former Celtic man, defender Didier Agathe.

The 24-year-old Argentina international Saviola will become a free agent next summer and his Spanish club keen to off-load him and cash in before that happens.

O'Neill said: "We are working on a number of things. You never know, there might be a bit of movement between now and the closure of the transfer window."

Petrov will become Villa's second most expensive signing - after the 9.5 million pounds (18 million dollars) capture of Juan Pablo Angel - if the initial fee of 6.5 million (11.44 million dollars) pounds rises by a further 1.5 million (2.8 million) in add-ons.

Celtic defender Didier Agathe takes a throw-in during a pre-season match against Manchester United in July 2003. Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill appears determined to bolster the squad with the signing of Agathe ahead of the official transfer deadline.

O'Neill has been tracking Petrov since he replaced David O'Leary as manager nearly a month ago. He brought the best out of the Bulgaria international during his five years in charge at Parkhead.

The Villa boss said: "I think Stilian will help us because he is a very good player. I've known him for quite some time and I think he is athletic, young and can also score some goals for us.

"He's got that winning mentality from his years at Celtic but I think he had that anyway. I am delighted that we've been able to sign him."

Petrov spent seven years with Celtic after moving from CSKA Sofia in 1999 but put in a transfer request at the end of last season despite having four years remaining on his contract.