Nantes star pens five-year Villa deal

The Frenchman joins the club after agreeing a five-year deal and becomes the fourth player to arrive at Villa Park from Ligue 1 this summer.

The 22-year-old certainly has the talent to do so, after contributing seven goals and six assists for a fairly poor Nantes side in Ligue 1 last term.

Veretout collected nine caps for France’s under-21 team between 2013 and 2014, but has never been selected for the senior squad.

The deal, rumoured to be for something in the €10 million range, means that Aston Villa now have the ability to put out a pivot central midfield of Idrissa Gueye and Veretout.

“He is only 22-years-old but he is vastly experienced for someone that age”, he told the club’s website. In Veretout he looks to have picked up an exciting talent who could well be valuable to Villa for years to come. He’s got potential in spades, and even though he has some rough edges he could be a player that Villa can either build around or turn around and sell for a big profit.

Villa are expected to continue their summer spending spree with the signings of Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Tottenham and fellow striker Rudy Gestede from Blackburn Rovers, in the wake of Christian Benteke’s £32.5 transfer to Liverpool last week.