Aston Villa sign striker Jordan Ayew from Lorient

Aston Villa have signed Ghanaian striker Jordan Ayew for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old has penned a five-year contract at Villa Park after leaving Ligue 1 club Lorient.

Manager Tim Sherwood told avfc.co.uk: "I'm really pleased to bring Jordan to the football club.

“He is a fantastic young player who is perfectly suited to the Premier League.”

Ayew is the third player to swap France for Witton this summer with former Nice left-back Jordan Amavi and ex-Lille midfielder Idrissa Gueye already enlisted.

Marseille-born forward Ayew — the brother of Swansea winger Andre — scored 12 goals in 26 league appearances for Lorient last season and has earned 28 caps for Ghana.

He passed a medical at Villa’s Bodymoor Heath training base on Monday morning before joining up with his new team-mates.

The Villans are working hard to fill the gap left by Belgian striker Christian Benteke, who moved to Liverpool for £32.5million last week after scoring 49 goals for the West Midlands outfit.

In defence, Villa have recruited Micah Richards from Manchester City have also agreed a deal to sign 28-year-old full-back Jose Angel Crespo from Cordoba, according to the Spanish club.

Meanwhile Watford have announced the signing of winger Steven Berghuis from AZ Alkmaar.

The 23-year-old, who scored 11 goals in 22 league appearances last season, has put pen to paper on a four-year contract at Vicarage Road in a deal understood to be worth around £4.6million.

Berghuis becomes Watford’s 10th summer signing ahead of the new Barclays Premier League season.

Jose Manuel Jurado, Miguel Britos, Sebastian Prodl, Giedrius Arlauskis, Matej Vydra, Jose Holebas, Etienne Capoue, Valon Behrami and Allan Nyom have also penned permanent deals with the newly-promoted Hornets.