Martin O'Neill's summer recruitment drive finally got under way last night when the Aston Villa manager reached agreement with Chelsea over the signing of Steve Sidwell for a fee believed to be in the region of £5m. The 25-year-old midfielder, who is seen as a replacement for Gareth Barry, underwent a medical at Villa yesterday afternoon and is expected to join up with his new team-mates in Switzerland for pre-season training this morning.
He is O'Neill's first acquisition since the end of last season and is likely to be followed by at least half a dozen other new faces as Villa seek to strengthen the smallest playing squad in the Premier League. The former Arsenal trainee has taken a considerable pay cut to join Villa - he was earning about £65,000 a week at Stamford Bridge - although he is unlikely to be out of pocket after Chelsea agreed to a substantial settlement following his early departure.
Sidwell struggled to make an impact during his one season at Chelsea, after joining on a free transfer from Reading last July, and it is no surprise that he has become the first player to leave Stamford Bridge since Luiz Felipe Scolari's arrival. Villa were not alone in tracking Sidwell but, having been close to signing him from Reading before Chelsea entered the race 14 months ago, O'Neill was confident of securing the central midfielder this time.
O'Neill believes he has signed a player capable of energising the team. "Steve played for Reading in my first match at Villa Park [in August 2006]," recalled O'Neill. "You always take note of players who do well against you and he stuck in my mind. However, I was less happy to see him do well again when we played at Reading [in February 2007]. He scored [both goals] against us that day. Again, the quality of his performance stayed with me."
"It was shortly after that he earned his move to Chelsea," continued O'Neill, who spent much of yesterday in meetings as he sought to accelerate his efforts to bring in more new signings. "Now, for whatever reason, it did not work out for him at Stamford Bridge. However, he is of the right age, and I believe the right quality, to take Aston Villa forward. He remains hungry to do well and to prove himself and I'm delighted to have him with us."
Villa, meanwhile, are awaiting a response from Liverpool after the club sent a letter reiterating their valuation of Barry. Liverpool have so far failed in four bids for the England international and, with negotiations yet to yield a breakthrough, Villa have confirmed their demands in writing. O'Neill has refused to budge on his £18m asking price but the Villa manager will accept £17m, payable over the course of 12 months, plus Steve Finnan, the Liverpool right-back who is surplus to requirements.
