Aston Villa are ready to wave goodbye to one of the team's few international stars as USMNT goalkeeper Brad Guzan has his medical at Middlesbrough according to Sky.
With the arrival of 21-year-old Pierluigi Gollini from Hellas Verona (after a previous stint at Manchester United), Guzan was clearly set to be replaced and is set to move to the Premier League new boys on a free transfer.
Decline of a star
Hard to remember as it is after a shocker of a season, Guzan fought his way into the team ahead of Shay Given and was voted club Player of the Year in 2012/13 in that season's survival effort. Along with Ron Vlaar, he added some steel to the Villa defence.
Having joined in 2008, he's also one of Villa's longest-serving players and until this season's controversy with fans, has been one of the more professional heads in the dressing room.
Unfortunately he's always been a player prone to a clanging error and in the last two seasons the pressure brought on by being behind a shaky defence seemed to be too much. A lack of real competition might not have helped with Tim Sherwood dropping him only to bring him back and then drop him again.
At Middlesbrough he'll be competing with their recent signing, former Manchester United and Barcelona keeper, Victor Valdes.