Barcelona Starlet joins Villa

Aston Villa fans this morning woke up to the news that Adama Traore has officially signed for the club.

The 19 year old Malian/Spanish winger joins on a five year contract from FC Barcelona. There has been some confusion regarding the transfer fee this week, with some conflicting reports, but the BBC are reporting that the fee is around £7 Million, which sounds pretty believable.

Interestingly, Barcelona have the option to buy Adama back during the first three years of his contract, in addition to having first refusal on any possible transfer for the player. This might seem like a strange addition to the contract but it seems to be standard practice for Barcelona, as they implemented similar clauses in the contracts of Bojan and Gerard Deuloefu. It may seem like Barcelona hold all of the cards here, but think about it, if Adama does well enough in three seasons that Barcelona of all teams want him back, then Villa will have definitely had their money's worth during those three seasons.

Villa manager Tim Sherwood is certainly excited to see Adama Traore in claret and blue, saying:

"He's someone I have been tracking for a long time. "He's physically a man - and he has been for some time. He's a big powerful boy, very quick, dynamic and a maverick-type player. Those players are few and far between. "We're delighted he has chosen Villa to continue his development."

I can't say for certain, but it's very unlikely that Adama will feature in tonight's game against Manchester United, but look for him to feature next week against Crystal Palace.

Talking of tonight's game, stay tuned here at 7500 to Holte for team news, open thread, instant reactions and more!