Aston Villa sign French left-back Jordan Amavi

The news comes less than 24 hours after the sale of Villa midfielder Fabian Delph to Manchester City despite a statement from the player last weekend pledging his future to the Midlands club.

‘I’m delighted to have secured the services of someone we consider to be a terrific young player.

Aston Villa have signed left-back Jordan Amavi from Nice, the clubs announced on Saturday. It is believed that Amavi has cost Villa a fee in the region of around £10million and the capture of one of the best young full backs to have emerged from France in recent times is certainly a huge boost for the Premier League side.

Amavi left for England this morning and is expected to quickly sign a contract with Aston Villa.

Amavi had initially hoped to move to Lyon or Atletico Madrid this summer, but the former side could not match Aston Villa’s offer and Atletico Madrid had yet to table a bid for the player who was lower down on their shortlist.

Amavi joins the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Mark Bunn and Micah Richards in moving to the Premier League club this summer, as Tim Sherwood sets about reshaping his squad.

Amavi, 21, only broke into the Nice first team at the beginning of the 2013-14 season and made 60 appearances in all competitions for the French club.