Aston Villa exchange Jordan Ayew for Neil Tayor

Aston Villa have made the signing of Neil Taylor from Swansea City official today, with the left-back looking likely to replace the faltering Jordan Amavi.

The 27-year-old Wales international has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and arrives at Villa Park for an undisclosed fee and as part of a deal that sees Jordan Ayew move in the opposite direction.

This will mark Taylor’s first move out of his home country of Wales - where he has featured for Wrexham and Swansea over the years. The 27 year old has made over 160 appearances for the Swans in his past seven years with the team. Taylor was a regular feature for Swansea and only truly missed out due to the emergence of Ben Davies and his own injuries.

While it might not be a blockbuster signing for Villa and while Taylor does have his flaws, the left-back comes with a fine recommendation from arguably Villa’s best player, James Chester. A back four of Taylor, Baker, Chester and Bree at least sounds more secure. This also allows Amavi to be deployed on the wing, robbing him of the defensive duties he lacks skill at anyway.

What’s more - Neil Taylor will become the first British-Asian footballer for Aston Villa, which is remarkable considering the community that actually surrounds the stadium. Easah Suliman will likely be the second and ideally this will ensure that the generation of Asian talent within Aston Villa heats up.

Villa will say goodbye to Jordan Ayew as part of this deal, but he hasn’t seen the pitch lately anyway as part of his AFCON duties with Ghana.