Baros rebuffs Monaco interest

"I know absolutely nothing," he said dismissively, taking off his beret to in exasperation. "All these things go past me. I'm fully concentrated on the World Cup finals and if some news gets to me, I don't even want to comment. My priorities for now are the Czech Republic national team." The 25-year-old was also keen to shelve talk of his eyeing a move away from Villa Park as he rode off on his bicycle, carefully balancing some onions and baguettes in his basket, but the Principality outfit are long-term admirers of the Euro 2004 top scorer.

With Laszlo Boloni set to be appointed new coach, Monaco are already working on close season reinforcements and a striker is top of their list of priorities. A £2.4m bid for Marco Di Vaio was rejected by Valencia, but although Baros is also thought to be on the shortlist for Monaco, his salary demands could be a stumbling block.