Aston Villa’s capture of the 24-year-old might be a bigger bargain than it originally looked.
Aston Villa announced the capture of Anwar El Ghazi on Monday.
The Dutch winger has joined Villa on a permanent basis from Lille, after helping Dean Smith’s side to Premier League promotion during a season-long loan last term.
The Express and Star claimed that Aston Villa did the business for £8 million which, in this climate, represents very good value for money.
But was the signing of El Ghazi an even bigger bargain than it looks?
According to French publication L’Equipe, the Villans actually paid around €5 million for the former Ajax man, which equates to around £4.5 million – £3.5 million less than reported in England.
If true, it’s a stunning bit of business. El Ghazi is only 24 and he has so much more to offer English football and plenty of Villa fans will be excited to see what he can do in the top flight.
But the beauty of the low transfer fee is that if El Ghazi takes to the Premier League like a duck to water then he’ll have serious re-sale value.
Nobody at the club will be thinking that far ahead just yet, because the Premier League is another animal than the Championship in terms of difficulty, but it’s certainly worth keeping in mind that the reported £4.5 million could be an incredible deal from a football and a business perspective.
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