Villa land Collins but Dunne deal delayed
ASTON VILLA boss Martin O’Neill will have to wait until this morning to parade his deadline-day defensive pair after the Premier League requested more time to ratify Richard Dunne’s move from Manchester City last night.
O’Neill is confident Dunne will be confirmed as a Villa player today with the ex-City captain having already completed a medical at Villa Park.
The Football Association are already happy with the paperwork but Villa need the approval of the Premier League before they can formally unveil the player.
Dunne will be joined at Villa Park by Wales centre-back James Collins, who signed in a £4m deal from West Ham. Collins, 26, who rejected a move to Stoke, made 60 appearances in four years at Upton Park but said it had not been a difficult decision to leave.
“It’s been a mad 24 hours since coming up here but I’m delighted to have it all sorted,” he said. “I came on Monday and met the manager and had a look around. It’s a fantastic setting. I just can’t wait to get cracking now. Aston Villa are a massive club so after coming here and looking around – and I’m friendly with a few of the boys as well – it didn’t take a lot of persuading on my part.”
Dunne meanwhile, was forced to move in search of first team football after being marginalised by big-money summer signings at Eastlands.
O’Neill was left needing reinforcements at the back by the retirement of Martin Laursen and the sale of Zat Knight to Bolton.