Antonio Luna is, in fact, off to fair Verona

As was rumoured a few weeks ago, Aston Villa left back Antonio Luna will be joining Italian Serie A side Hellas Verona on a season-long loan. The club announced the loan deal via its official Twitter feed Monday.

Full-back @AntoniiioLuna has joined @HellasVeronaFC on a season-long loan. #avfc

— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) August 4, 2014

This seems to be, for all parties involved, a good move. Believe it or not, Hellas Verona could actually use 'Tony Moon' as they had the third-worst defensive record in the Italian top flight last year despite finishing comfortably in 10th place. And with Villa's signing of Kieran Richardson, it seemed even less likely that Luna would factor into Paul Lambert's plans for the current season.

And while my Italian skills are nonexistent, sending Hellas Verona's announcement of the deal through Google Translate seems to indicate that the deal is one with a purchase option. Details of the loan-to-buy fee do not seem to be disclosed but this is probably Villa's best way to get anything near Luna's actual worth in the transfer market. Nobody's really going to give Villa any substantive money up front for him after last year's disastrous season so perhaps Villa could get something for him as the loan deal is set to expire.

It's a smart move for all parties involved, really. Had he stuck around, there's probably a good chance Luna wouldn't have even made the 25-man squad and the Gialloblu are most certainly in need of defensive help—hopefully he can prosper there.

Want to defend Luna or think he'll do well in Serie A? Let us know in the comments!