Aston Villa have further bolstered their defensive stocks with the signing of England Under-21 international Ezri Konsa from Championship side Brentford.
Villa reportedly triggered the centre-back's £12million release clause to make him their seventh signing since winning promotion to the Premier League.
The Charlton Athletic product briefly played under Dean Smith at Brentford, for whom he made 42 league appearances in 2018/19.
Konsa joins Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause, both now committed to permanent deals, among Villa's defensive reinforcements and will fly out to the United States with his new team-mates on Thursday.
"Ezri fits the profile of the type of player we were searching for," manager Smith said.
"It helps that [assistant coach] Richard O'Kelly and I have worked with him before. He's a high-potential player who I believe can step up to the Premier League and I'm really looking forward to working with him again."
#WelcomeEzri pic.twitter.com/WC2W9jMxLs
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 11, 2019
Konsa formed part of the England squad that stumbled to a premature exit at the recent European Under-21 Championship.
Villa have not confirmed the length of the contract.
