Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Villa seal Petrov deal

30 Aug 2006 - 13:16:45

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Aston Villa have completed the signing of Bulgaria midfielder Stilian Petrov from Celtic for an initial fee of £6.5million.

The deal for the 27-year-old, who has signed a four-year contract at Villa Park, could eventually be worth £8million.

Petrov was also a target for Portsmouth after handing in a transfer request at Celtic Park, but opted to take the chance to work with ex-Bhoys boss Martin O'Neill again.

He becomes O'Neill's first signing since taking charge at Villa Park, but press reports have suggested deals for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe and Barcelona forward Javier Saviola could follow before Thursday's transfer deadline.

Petrov joined Celtic from CSKA Sofia in a £2million deal in 1999 and went on to score 55 times in 218 SPL appearances.