Villa officially sign Jordan Veretout from Nantes

After what seems like forever (thanks to an attempt by Leicester City to derail the deal) but was in fact only about three days, Aston Villa have finished the signing of FC Nantes midfielder Jordan Veretout.

TRANSFER NEWS: Big hello to our new signing Jordan Veretout. Story here: http://t.co/KlJwrfNXbn #AVFC #WelcomeJordan pic.twitter.com/d32eBCOFqf

— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) July 31, 2015

The deal, rumoured to be for something in the €10 million range, means that Aston Villa now have the ability to put out a pivot central midfield of Idrissa Gueye and Veretout. Given the fact that Gueye is a bit more defensively minded and Veretout wants to attack (though both are accomplished box-to-box types), this seems to mean that Sherwood has found both his Fabian Delph and Tom Cleverley replacements.

Veretout, who has signed a five-year contract, is a pacy midfielder who is a creative asset and who isn't afraid to go in on goal. He's got potential in spades, and even though he has some rough edges he could be a player that Villa can either build around or turn around and sell for a big profit.

If other rumours are to be trusted, this could be just one (after Jordan Ayew and Jose Angel Crespo) of five signings this week. One or both of Emmanuel Adebayor and Rudy Gestede are expected to join the Villa striker corps soon as well.