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Aston Villa have signed French midfielder Morgan Sanson from French giants Marseille.
Words: Regan Foy | @findfoy
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Aston Villa have this evening confirmed the signing of Morgan Sanson for an ‘undisclosed’ fee, rumoured to be around £18,000,000, including add-ons.
The deal is subject to international clearance, a process made tougher by the recent exit from the European Union for Great Britain – but with the club announcing the deal, it is incredibly unlikely for the deal not to be passed.
Sanson has appeared for the likes of Le Mans and Montpellier before he joined Marseille in 2017 – and aided his now former club to a Europa League Final in 2018, as well as a runner-up finish behind Paris Saint-Germain last season.
Our previous writing on Morgan Sanson has compared the Frenchman to now team-mate John McGinn, with the pair adopting relatively similar styles in their football.
On joining the club, Sanson said:
“I am really happy to be here, I’m very proud to join the Aston Villa family and in the future I hope we can do great things together.
It’s a magical club, a big club in England. When Aston Villa called me, I didn’t have to think about it for a long time – it was the best opportunity for me and my career.”
He also referred to himself as a ‘warrior’, stating that he loves the look of the team spirit around the club and that he appreciated watching Villa in the past ‘because it’s good football’.
The midfielder will wear the number 25 this season and after studying the side after learning of Aston Villa’s interest, believes there is a strong squad – made even stronger with Sanson’s Champions League and Europa League experience.
Like many other European footballers, Sanson considers it ‘a dream’ to play in the Premier League – and moving to Villa fulfils a life-long wish to play in what Sanson considers the ‘best league in the world’.
On his arrival, manager Dean Smith said:
“Morgan has performed consistently at the highest level in French football for a number of seasons, as well as in this season’s Champions League.
He’s a player with the quality and experience to play in any midfield position.
He will add real competition for starting places and gives us more squad depth which is vital to competing successfully in the Premier League.”
The 26-year-old midfielder flew in from France to finalise his move to Villa Park on Tuesday afternoon, and seemingly couldn’t contain his delight at joining the Club.
