Aston Villa

Defender rejects ‘more lucrative’ deal from Aston Villa to seal £12m Premier League move

According to reliable journalist Pete O’Rourke, defender Chris Mepham has turned down Aston Villa to join Premier League outfit Bournemouth in a £12m move from Brentford.

Bournemouth have reportedly completed the signing of Welsh defender Chris Mepham from Championship side Brentford for a fee believed to be £12m. Journalist Pete O’Rourke tweeted the news on Tuesday afternoon, but a deal is yet to be officially announced by either Bournemouth or Brentford.

O’Rourke went on to add that Championship side Aston Villa had been beaten in the race for Mepham’s signature. Villa boss Dean Smith was keen on a reunion with the defender but after chasing him for ‘over a year’, Eddie Howe has completed the signing of a long-term target.

The tweet states that Aston Villa had offered more than the £12m that Bournemouth offered, also offering the Welsh defender a bigger wage packet to make the move to Villa Park. However, the four-time Wales international has opted to make the step up to the Premier League and move down to the South coast to join Eddie Howe’s side.

The defender has been an impressive figure in Brentford’s side since his breakthrough into The Bees’ line up. Mepham has played 48 times for Brentford after making his debut in a 5-1 win over Eastleigh in the 2016/17 FA Cup Third Round.

It has been no secret in the run-up to and throughout the first three weeks of the January transfer window that Aston Villa boss Dean Smith is looking to further reinforce his defensive options heading into the second half of the season.

They have already brought in Kortney Hause from Wolves this January and Tommy Elphick has returned from his loan spell at Hull City, but Smith is seemingly still keen to bring in another name before the window shuts.

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