Villa snap up Ayew

Villa announced on Monday that the 23-year-old had signed for an undisclosed fee and had penned a five-year deal in Birmingham after passing a medical.

"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," said Villa manager Tim Sherwood.

Ayew, the son of Ghana legend Abedi Pele, started his career at Marseille but struggled to win a regular first-team place at the Stade Velodrome.

He shone on loan at Sochaux in the second half of the 2013-14 season and then joined Lorient last year, scoring 12 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games.

He had been a target for Lille, but has chosen to move to Villa where he will attempt to help fill the void left by Christian Benteke's £32.5 million (45.6m euro, $50.6m) switch to Liverpool.

Earlier on Monday, Spanish side Cordoba announced that they had agreed a deal for 28-year-old full-back Jose Angel Crespo to move to Villa.

Sherwood's side have already been busy in the transfer market this summer, with signings including Lille's Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye and young Nice full-back Jordan Amavi as well as Manchester City defender Micah Richards.

Ayew's elder brother Andre also recently swapped France for the Premier League, joining Swansea City on a free transfer after his contract with Marseille expired.