Villa's El Ghazi moves to Everton on loan

BeSoccer 2 years ago 877 |

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Anwar El-Ghazi has moved to Everton on loan. AFP

Anwar El Ghazi has joined Everton on loan from Premier League rivals Aston Villa for the rest of the season, the Merseyside club said Thursday.

The 26-year-old Dutch winger is the third player to arrive at Goodison Park during the ongoing transfer window after full-backs Vitalii Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson signed full-time deals.

"I'm really excited. Everton is a big club, I cannot wait to get started," El Ghazi told evertontv. "I want to show my quality to my teammates, to the club and, of course, the fans. I want to put a smile on their faces. I'm ready and willing to work hard for it and for all of us to work together."

Everton are 15th in the table, a place below and three points adrift of Villa. The Toffees confirmed they had signed El Ghazi hours after it was announced left-back Lucas Digne had moved in the opposite direction from Everton to Birmingham-based Villa.

El Ghazi joined the Midlands side on loan from French club Lille in 2018, with the switch then being made permanent a year later after he had helped Villa gain promotion to the top flight via the Championship play-offs, scoring in the final. He has since scored 15 goals in made 71 Premier League appearances and netted the winner in a 2-1 victory at Everton in May 2021.

El Ghazi, capped twice by the Netherlands, could make his Everton debut at basement club Norwich on Saturday.