Aston Villa have announced the arrival of Burnley goalkeeper Tom Heaton in a deal worth as much as £8.5m.
Heaton had entered the final 12 months of his Burnley contract and rejected an offer of a new long-term deal with the Clarets.
Burnley rejected Villa’s opening offer of £7m earlier in the summer but Dean Smith’s side have succeeded with an improved offer worth an initial £8m.
Heaton underwent his medical with Villa on Wednesday before finalising terms on a deal with the newly promoted Premier League outfit.
Villa have spent well in excess of £100m on new players this summer and Heaton is the club’s 11th new arrival.
Smith has been on the market for a new goalkeeper all summer after Villa failed to nail down a first-choice shot-stopper last season.
Villa earmarked Jack Butland as their top target after securing promotion to the Premier League but were quickly put off by Stoke’s £20m valuation.
Heaton missed the start of last season with a dislocated shoulder but his return to fitness coincided with Burnley’s best form of the campaign.
In fact, Burnley had a win ratio of 42.1% in the Premier League last season when Heaton started compared to just 15.8% when he did not feature from the off.
