Tuesday 16 July 2019 21:44, UK
Aston Villa have made their eighth signing of the summer, bringing in Bjorn Engels from Reims and taking their spending to almost £100m.
The 24-year-old is also Villa's fourth centre-back signing, after Tyrone Mings, Kourtney Hause and Ezri Konsa were all recruited by Dean Smith.
Engels featured in the Champions League during his time at Olympiakos, bringing some experience to the defence.
If all potential add-ons are paid out for the eight signings Villa have made so far, they would have spent exactly £100m in the summer window - with three weeks still to go.
Engels will cost up to £9m, with Tyrone Mings (£25m) and Wesley (£22m) the most expensive pair.
In a statement on the Aston Villa website, Dean Smith said: "Bjorn is a player that I've been watching for the past 18 months.
"We're very happy to have secured his services and look forward to working with him."
The Midlands side are also close to a deal for Manchester City midfielder Douglas Luiz, after a £15m fee was agreed.
Sky Sports News is home to three new shows dedicated to bringing you the very latest news from this summer's transfer market.
Start your day with Good Morning Transfers at 9am as our team of reporters and pundits bring you the latest news and insight.
Transfer Talk then follows at midday, delivering the biggest stories that matter to you. And join us at 7pm for the definitive round-up of the day's news with The Transfer Show.
And as well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
There's also the Transfer Talk Podcast, the daily UK, Regional and European Paper Talk, plus features across skysports.com and the Sky Sports app.
