Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Ghanaian striker Jordan Ayew from Ligue 1 side Lorient, as he signed a five-year-contract.
The deal was made public by Villa today after seemingly swift negotiations throughout the past week, as they completed a deal in the region of £10million.
It had been reported that the French side had accepted a slightly lower offer of £8.5million, but those reports proved to be premature, with the Villans having to pay slightly more to get their man.
A big part in the transfer being pushed through was Ayew's public criticism of Lorient, for what he described as bumping his price up when a Premier League team came calling, in order to take advantage of the huge television rights in England.
Another deal for Villa
Becoming Tim Sherwood's sixth signing of the summer, he joins Scott Sinclair, Micah Richards, Mark Bunn, Idrissa Gueye and Jordan Amavi at Villa Park, as the club look to strengthen their squad ahead of the new season.
He takes their summer spending to well over the £20million mark, after the Gueye and Amavi deals set Villa back by a total of around £17million. Something of a statement of intent by Sherwood, as he looks to put his own stamp on the squad after replacing the sacked Paul Lambert last season.
Amavi and Gueye both also came from the top French division, suggesting that Villa's scouts have been well placed in Ligue 1 over the past months.
Benteke replacement?
It isn't like Villa don't have the funds for these deals, with the aforementioned TV deal joining with the £32.5million sale of Christian Benteke to Liverpool, giving them a very healthy looking transfer budget.
Some may suggest that Ayew is a direct replacement for Benteke, as Villa look to replace the Belgian, who scored at a rate of almost one every two games for them over a three year period. However, with Villa still pursuing other strikers, it's possible that Ayew could share the goalscoring responsibility passed on by Benteke.
Upon completing the signing of Ayew, manager Tim Sherwood said that he was "really pleased" to have signed the striker, adding that he thought he had brought in a "fantastic young player" who is "perfectly suited to the Premier League".
Chances of Ayew featuring in Tuesday's friendly match against Wolverhampton Wanderers are slim, however he could make his debut against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, as Villa finish their pre-season schedule before kicking their league campaign off with a trip to newly promoted AFC Bournemouth on August 8.