By Graham Hill
VILLA may have signed Anwar El Ghazi for HALF of what was previously thought.
Holland forward El Ghazi made his loan switch to Villa Park over the weekend and for a reported fee of 9million euros – around £8million.
But the French newspaper L’Equipe now says the official fee is 5million euros – around £4.5million – just under half of what was announced.
El Ghazi was wanted by other teams in the Premier League and Lille need money, which might explain the comparative ease with which the deal was done.
The suggestion made by the Sports Witness site is that Villa got a better deal by paying up quickly for the player.
If so, then Villa could have pulled off one of the deals of the summer – and a bargain buy.
El Ghazi was always heading to Villa Park and pushed for the move after helping win promotion at Wembley.
But if Villa have done it in a cut-price deal, that could free up cash to seal more expensive deals.
Villa Roar 