LONDON: Aston Villa have signed full-back Lucas Digne from fellow Premier League side Everton for an undisclosed fee, while Anwar El Ghazi has moved the other way on loan in a separate deal.

Left-back Digne played 127 games and scored six goals for Everton after joining from Barcelona in the summer of 2018.

The 28-year-old, who counts Lille and Paris Saint-Germain among his former clubs, has made 15 appearances this season.

El Ghazi, 26, has slipped down the pecking order at Villa Park this season – especially since Steven Gerrard was appointed manager. The Dutch winger has started just four Premier League games this term.

Digne has not played since Everton’s Merseyside derby defeat on December 1 after a fall-out with the manager over tactics and his role in the team.

He returned to the squad as an unused substitute a month later for the defeat at home to Brighton but last Friday the Toffees boss revealed the player had asked to leave.

Benitez was critical of Digne’s attitude, saying: “We are paid big money to do our job and if someone is happy or not happy it is (still) up to you to perform in your job.

“You have to put your interests behind the interests of the club. If you are not thinking about that the priority is you and not the team.”

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