Juan Pablo Ángel (born October 24, 1975 in Medellín) is a Colombian football striker, who is currently playing for Red Bull New York of Major League Soccer. His transfer was announced at a press conference on April 17th, 2007.

Ángel started playing professional soccer at Atlético Nacional in his home city of Medellín, Colombia. Ángel was sold to River Plate, Argentina, where he was considered to be amongst the best players at the time[1]. River Plate spectators would often adorn angel wings to show their appreciation.

Ángel became Aston Villa's record signing at £9.5 million on January 12th 2001. In his time at Villa, he was reportedly Villa's highest earner. After an indifferent start to his Aston Villa career, and family difficulties, Angel settled down and started to produce the form that persuaded Doug Ellis to shell out the massive transfer fee. He very quickly became a fans favourite and finished as the club's top scorer in the 2003-04 season with 16 goals in the FA Premier League, but could not maintain that form as Villa struggled and he only managed seven goals in 2004-05.

His last season for Villa (2006-2007) was a typically mixed one for Ángel. After much initial promise in which Ángel scored seven goals, the arrival of John Carew and Ashley Young in the January Transfer window pushed Ángel further down the pecking order at Villa Park.

On 17 April 2007, the New York Red Bulls announced the signing of Ángel as their second designated player, pending the approval of his work visa. After his visa was approved, Ángel made his Red Bull debut 8 May 2007 in a U.S. Open Cup qualifying match. Ángel came on as a substitute and scored a free kick in overtime in the Red Bulls' 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Ángel scored his first MLS goal for New York on May 19, 2007, in a 4-0 win over the Columbus Crew. Ángel also recorded an assist and played an important role in a third goal to round off a performance that earned him that week's MLS Player of the Week award[4]. His form showed no signs of letting up in the following game, as he weighed in with 2 well taken goals and another assist as the Red Bulls overcame Chicago Fire to win 3-0, taking them to the top of the Eastern Standings. He is already in the running for MVP, and has already won one player of the week.

--Wikipedia