Confirmed: Aston Villa announce second summer signing in touted £8m deal

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Aston Villa have confirmed the permanent signing of winger Anwar El Ghazi following his successful loan spell at the club last season.

Villa secured promotion back to the Premier League last month, defeating Derby County in the Championship playoff final at Wembley.

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Dean Smith wasted little time in bolstering his squad, with BBC Sport noting that they swooped for Jota from rivals Birmingham City last week, while nine players were released to create space in the squad and offer some financial flexibility.

As seen in the tweet from the club below though, they’ve now confirmed that El Ghazi has joined on a permanent basis from Lille, having played a key role in their promotion from the Championship last year.

As per the Express and Star, it’s suggested that the Dutch winger had an £8m buy-out clause in his loan deal which has been exercised, and so he’ll look forward to helping Villa’s bid for survival in the upcoming campaign.

El Ghazi bagged six goals and six assists in 36 appearances last season, but coupled with his work-rate and commitment, he’ll undoubtedly be a valuable part of the Villa squad moving forward.

Time will tell who else arrives to strengthen Smith’s squad further, but he’ll hope that they’ve now laid the early foundations for a successful transfer window with plenty more activity expected.

Having also impressed during loan spells with the club last season, it could be argued that many Villa fans will be hoping that permanent deals for the likes of Tyrone Mings and Axel Tuanzebe aren’t far behind, but it remains to be seen if they can strike agreements with the respective clubs.

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