Aston Villa Signs Stewart Downing

English Premier League club Aston Villa signed England winger Stewart Downing from Middlesbrough, to a four-year contract. It is believed that Villa paid close to £12m for the player. Downing made his debut for England in 2005.

Downing told Aston Villa TV, “I am really pleased to be joining Villa. It’s a massive football club with good ambition. It’s certainly been a summer of speculation for me but I have tried to switch off and get a good break after my injury.”

He added, “As an outsider looking in, it was obvious that Villa were a club on the up. You can see a chairman and manager who want to build great things. They have done that over the past few seasons, particularly by finishing sixth last time around, which was great.”

The 25-year-old Downing leaves his hometown club Middlesbrough after a disappointing season which saw the club relegated into the Championship League. It was also a bad year for him personally as he suffered a serious leg injury toward the end of the season.

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