Tiago time! Aston Villa loan Liverpool’s Ilori
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Aston Villa, 9/5 with Coral to be relegated, have completed the season-long loan capture of Liverpool centre back starlet Tiago Ilori.
TRANSFER NEWS: Villa sign @TiagoIlori4 on season-long loan from @LFC. Info: http://t.co/hqmY8TsRto #AVFC #DeadlineDay pic.twitter.com/AFQWNzc8RC
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) September 1, 2015
Tim Sherwood swooped to sign the English-born Portugal Under-21 talent to complete a summer of promising signings, and he becomes the Birmingham-based side’s 13th new recruit this transfer window.
Ilori, formerly a Sporting Lisbon academy product, will get his first taste of the English top flight with the Villans, having been previously shipped out on loan to continental clubs Bordeaux and Granada.
Now 22, the talented youngster is yet to make a senior outing for his parent club, despite signing up with the Anfield outfit in 2013.
The defender, yet to clock-up a senior Navigators cap, is still eligible to represent England or Nigeria as well as Portugal due to his father’s roots.
Hampstead-born, centre half Ilori made 12 league outings for Sporting, before being plucked from the Portuguese giants for a fee thought to be around the £7m mark, and is tipped as a top prospect.
An intriguing signing, the Portugal Under-21 prodigy recently represented the Iberian nation in the UEFA Under-21 Championships, including the final against Sweden, which the Hopes lost on penalties.
Ilori joins a raft of Villa young-guns aiming to make a Premier League impression, including academy-reared Jack Grealish and recent purchase Adama Traore from Barcelona youth ranks.
Left back Jordan Amavi, keeper Matija Sarkic, forward Jordan Ayew and midfielder Jordan Veretout complete the captures aged 23 or under that Sherwood has opted to take under his wing.
As the latest, Ilori, only leased for the upcoming campaign, will have to scrap for a starting place against veteran defender Joleon Lescott, who also left Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion for Villa on Deadline Day.
As for the Reds, Brendan Rodgers’ boys are set to end a relatively quiet transfer Deadline Day with a flurry of late action for Allan Rodrigues de Souza, an 18-year-old midfielder from Brazilian club Internacional.
