Crewe Midfielder Ashley Westwood Completes Move To Aston Villa

Friday, 31st August, 2012

Aston Villa have completed the signing of Crewe midfielder Ashley Westwood after the player passed his medical.

Westwood has penned a four-year deal at Villa Park which will keep him at the club until 2016.

The 23-year-old Englishman expressed his delight at having signed for the Villans and introduced himself to the fans as a ‘Carrick-esque’ player.

"This is a fantastic football club, a massive club and I can’t wait to get started really”, declared the midfielder to his new club’s official website.

“I see myself as a Michael Carrick-type of player, someone who stays out of the limelight and keeps it simple, retaining the ball and laying it off to team-mates and from the conversations I’ve had with the new manager I think that will fit in perfectly here”, said Westwood confidently.

The Nantwich-born player revealed that Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert convinced him to join the Premier League outfit and said that the Scot wanted him to help take the club to the next level.

"He said to me that he’s looking for younger lads to work with him, step up and lift this club to the next level and I’m really looking forward to the challenge”, he added.

Lambert praised his newest signing and insisted that it would not take him a lot of time to settle in with his new team-mates.

“Being captain of his football club at 21 years of age, I think that says a big thing about Ashley’s quality, the responsibility he has taken on his shoulders and his temperament – he’s a good player," said 43-year-old.

"He’s also a terrific prospect for this football club – a real, real talent. He’s had a really good grounding at Crewe and he will fit in with what we’re looking to do here. He’s a good player and he’ll do fine.”