Is this man the first signing of the Xia era at Aston Villa?

It's not often you can get such a good player for so little money, but Aston Villa seem to have had lady luck fall into their lap.

Well, Tommy Elphick.

The Bournemouth Captain still needs to sign on the dotted line for Villa, but once he uncaps his pen and marks his own squiggle in front of Di Matteo and Xia, he will becomes the very first signing of Aston Villa's new era under Dr Tony Xia.

And what a good signing he is.

Elphick has steered Bournemouth to two promotions and assisted in a successful battle against relegation from the Premier League for the Cherries, but might see himself become a victim of his own success as Bournemouth, frankly, need someone a little bit better than him right now if they are to build upon an amazing debut season in the Premier League.

As reported by the BBC, Villa and Bournemouth are said to have agreed a fee which will see Elphick offer depth to Villa's shaky defence and he may just replace either Jores Okore or Ciaran Clark, who might both be sought by other teams. At any rate, Elphick would be an upgrade over the slow Joleon Lescott and the over-excitable Micah Richards.