Everton have completed the signing of midfielder Tim Iroegbunam from Aston Villa for a fee reported to be in the region of £9million.
The 20-year-old has signed a three-year deal at Goodison Park having found opportunities limited at Villa under Unai Emery.
Iroegbunam started just one Premier League game last season despite impressing on loan at QPR during the 2022-23 campaign.
The England Under-20 international told evertontv: “I’m very pleased. Everton is an amazing club, a big club and I’m just really happy to join and I can’t wait to get started.
“It was a move that I didn’t want to pass by. I wanted to take the opportunity.
“When I spoke to [director of football] Kevin [Thelwell], he told me more about the club – its history, the future and where they see me playing. It made me feel very excited because there are big things coming, especially with the new stadium.
“When I’ve been to Goodison as an opposition player, I’ve seen how the Everton fans are. You can tell straight away what the atmosphere is like – they are always backing the team. I’m going to work hard for them.
“I just can’t wait to get started. I’m going to give everything and I can’t wait to show what I can bring to this club.”
First signing of the summer ✅ pic.twitter.com/bK9fnr33r9
— Everton (@Everton) June 22, 2024
Toffees boss Sean Dyche was delighted to have made his first signing of the summer.
He said: ”We’re pleased to add Tim to our midfield options. He is a young player who is still learning and developing but clearly has a lot of the qualities we want in that area of the pitch.
“My coaching staff and I are looking forward to starting to work with him in pre-season.”
