Aston Villa have signed left-back, Matteo Ruggeri from Atletico Madrid for £22.6m.
Ruggeri’s arrival at Villa Park came just one year at Atletico Madrid where he made 47 appearances in all competitions without scoring, but he made seven assists in a trophyless campaign for Diego Simeone’s side.
Atletico however decided to sell him to Villa in a transfer worth £22.64m in order to finance a successful move for Tottenham defender, Cristian Romero, with Unai Emery’s Villains paying a fixed £21.35m fee plus a further £1.28m in add-ons.
The 24-year-old Italian has signed a five-year contract until June 2031.
Ruggeri began his career at Atalanta where he graduated through their academy to produce two goals and nine assists in 109 appearances across four seasons, having made his debut in a 5-0 Champions League loss to Liverpool in November 2020 in the first of eight appearances in the 2020-21 season.
2021-22 season saw him loaned out to US Salernitana where he only managed one assist in 15 appearances, before he returned to Atalanta and became a regular as they won the 2023-24 UEFA Europa League to deny Bayer Leverkusen a treble that season.
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