Premier League - Villa complete Dunne deal

Eurosport - Wed, 02 Sep 14:26:00 2009

Aston Villa have formally completed the signing of Manchester City skipper Richard Dunne in a £6 million deal.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Manchester City Richard Dunne - 0

The Premier League asked for more time to ratify the deal even though Villa began submitting the relevant documents before 4pm on Tuesday - an hour before the transfer window formally closed.

Skipper Stiliyan Petrov believes Villa will be signing "a true leader" for the club.

"The deal for Dunne is great news for Villa. Richard is an international player, he's been in the Premier League for so many years and is one of the game's big players," Petrov said.

"It is a big signing for Villa. It gives us a strong defender at the back and he is a true leader."

Dunne's days at Eastlands appeared to be numbered after the signing of Kolo Toure from Arsenal and then Joleon Lescott from Everton.

But his arrival - along with James Collins - at Villa Park will provide Martin O'Neill with the kind of experienced centre-back he has been looking for since the retirement of Martin Laursen at the end of last season with a knee injury.

O'Neill also allowed Zat Knight to move to Bolton and started the current campaign with only two experienced centre-backs in Curtis Davies and Carlos Cuellar.

The need for new blood became even more pressing after Davies started to suffer more regular recurrences of his long-standing shoulder problem.

Collins said: "It's been a mad 24 hours since coming up here but I'm delighted to have it all sorted. 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 is a massive club so, after coming here looking around the place and I'm friendly with a few of the boys as well, it didn't take a lot of persuading on my part."

PA Sport

Comment 42 - 61 of 61

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  1. Big mistake by Hughes, as Dunne is by far a better­ player than lescotte and the way he was treated and­ shown the door was a disgrace. I have said it once and­ will again, a centre back is only as good as his full­ backs and Richards was the week point forcing Dunne to­ get out of position, covering Richards stupid and ill­ times runs. Dunne will thrive at Villa if their full­ backs are up to anything and will make Hughes and­ company look bloody clueless in letting him go! Hope­ he has a great season and makes the Hierarchy at City­ take a bloody good look at themselves. By the way i am­ a season ticket holder at Man City!

    From tonyjoe79, on Fri 4 Sep 7:40PM

  2. Dean he was hardly our best player!!...he made lots of­ mistakes last season...although thats not the reason he­ was sold. Ireland is our best player...by miles.

    From Chris W, on Fri 4 Sep 12:54PM

  3. Man.City Sold their Best Player ...... Stupid City Hope­ u do @#$% this reason u deserve it!

    From deanhollick, on Thu 3 Sep 7:06PM

  4. Great signing..................BTW Gareth Barry can now­ @#$% himself........ UTV

    From Lauren, on Thu 3 Sep 5:56PM

  5. Dunne had a poor season last time around but was our­ best player for the previous four and got off to a­ flying start this season too, he looked really good in­ the centre with Toure. That being said, the way he has­ been shown the door is an absolute disgrace but this is­ apparently the way that Hughes operates as has already­ been shown by the departure of Elano. I have said it­ before and I will say it again, the sooner Hughes is­ shown the door the sooner we can enjoy some success.

    From youknowtheydidit, on Thu 3 Sep 4:57PM

  6. Ah...a second Andy...that makes things a bit clearer.

    From Andy, on Thu 3 Sep 3:19PM

  7. Graham l, i think you are right. Dunney did lose us a­ (fair) few points...but how many did he save? Villa get­ a really good defender that will get first team­ football. City lose backup for the center.

    Sad to see­ him go.

    From Andy, on Thu 3 Sep 3:17PM

  8. Hi Andy,
    I have to disagree with you­ on Richard Dunne being good enough, as a City' fan­ you should know, Richard has cost us alot of games­ along with one or two others (Mainly (Micah Richards)­ over the last two years, and between them two, a lot of­ the pressure came to lose Sven his job ay City,­ He's scored own goals galore over the years too. I­ am not slating' Richard off' all in all'­ he's been a fine player, and a Good Captain, I just­ feel he is not good enough for where City are­ going' in the future, I doubt the owners would­ worry about a frw Bob' that the fans' pay for­ in any case at the testimonial. Only my opinon my­ friend, right or wrong.

    From graham l, on Thu 3 Sep 12:05PM

  9. grahm I, City fans should know Dunne is good enough. He­ is leaving because his testimonial is coming up.­ It's a business decision no matter how deep­ City's pockets are.

    From Andy, on Thu 3 Sep 9:04AM

  10. Trivia Bonus Question..
    Hi Guys..

    Is Carlo­ Ancelotti,Harry­­­ Redknapp,Martin­ O'Neil,David­ Moyes & hell­­ even­ Gianfranco Zola­ a far better­ manager than that­­ Fat­ Spanish­ P***K??..i­ would say­ YES!!!..he is­­ rather­­ 'S***e"!!!!!....

    From Those Rats likes Bin dippin for free Cheeseburger, on Thu 3 Sep 3:05AM

  11. Guess wot city fans, dunne is leaving the 2nd team in­ manchester 2 go to the 1st team in Brum ha ha ha......­ Can't wait 2 c u 2 teams injure each other next­ week!

    From tj.whelan, on Wed 2 Sep 10:54PM

  12. As a city' fan I'm sorry to see richard dunne­ leave, he has been a smashing geezer' for city over­ the year's, and I'll miss seeing his face­ around the club, but he had to go because he is not­ good enough for City now.

    (Written by my Son Daniel)

    From graham l, on Wed 2 Sep 9:40PM

  13. good way to reward a guy who's been city 's­ player of the year the last 4 years...

    From Matty, on Wed 2 Sep 9:10PM

  14. Does this mean it's a Dunne deal, or did someone­ else already say that? LOL. Can't be bothered­ reading through all the nonsense you football geniuses­ write on these boards. Sooner you boys go and put the­ kettles on and do some ironing the better for us girls­ to talk about football. 21st century women, XXX

    From UpForSport, on Wed 2 Sep 9:00PM

  15. Dunne is a superior player to the muppets terry and­ ferdinard. 160K a week for terry under achiever­ overated.The laughing stock of europe. England to fail­ in yet another world cup.

    From thetwotoedsloth, on Wed 2 Sep 8:46PM

  16. gutted dunne has gone hes a top player,,, to all villa­ fans you got a good player who gives his all,,, cheers­ dunnie all the best. city till i die

    From antstocky, on Wed 2 Sep 8:23PM

  17. yes ED. Who cares? Who cares about transfer deadline­ day? I read your morning article today and it was an­ absolute disgrace. How can you get excited about­ transfers. Honestly. Sky sports are the same.­ 'Ashley Cole has signed a 4 year contract' this­ and 'John Terry has signed a 5 year contract'­ that. Woow. so what. This is not news. Transfers are­ boring nough to read about but Extended contract news.­ Please. GET A LIFE.

    From wobblay, on Wed 2 Sep 7:28PM

  18. Jimmyrice? just another glory huntiG halfwit, he will­ be a citeh fan next season.

    VILLA TILL I D I E!

    From stuart.althorpe, on Wed 2 Sep 6:58PM

  19. Excellent news that Dunne and Collins have signed for­ the Villains. This should certainly bolster the team,­ and provide the impetus for pushing on in the Premier­ League. Great news!

    From Richie, on Wed 2 Sep 6:00PM

  20. good bussiness MON, lets hope lets hope Collins settles­ in quickley and that Dunne has a couple of years left­ in him til Davis is ready to take the leadership role,­ with Collins in support..

    From mik363, on Wed 2 Sep 5:29PM
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