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Everton have made their third summer signing after bringing in defender Ashley Williams from Swansea City for a reported fee of £12 million.
The Wales captain recently led his country to an impressive semi-final place in the 2016 European Championships before losing to eventual winners Portugal.
Being a strong central defender himself, new Everton manager Ronald Koeman wanted to get a player who possessed similar qualities and was delighted with his new signing.
Koeman said: “We wanted to bring in a strong player in the central defence position, a player who knows the Premier League and Ashley fits the bill for us very well.
“He is an experienced defender and the kind of player we need in the team. He is a leader. He showed this at Swansea and he has shown it for his country and he is looking forward to his new challenge here at Everton.”
Williams will easily fit right into the Everton team after being brought in to replace John Stones who left Everton to join Manchester City for £47.5 million yesterday, and could feature for Everton for the first time against Tottenham on Saturday.
“I look forward to seeing what the manager’s plans are for me and the team. He’s been one of the greatest centre-halves to ever play the game, so I look forward to learning from him and seeing what he can teach me”, Williams told the official Everton website.
“I really can’t wait to get out there at Goodison. I have always enjoyed playing on the Goodison pitch, so it will be nice to be an Everton player and experience what it’s all about when I’m apart of the home team.
“I’m excited about meeting my new teammates, staff and focussing on the season ahead.”
The Centre back began his professional career at non-league Hednesford Town before turning professional at Stockport County in 2003. In 2008 the defender was loaned to Swansea City helping them win League one before eventually signing for them for £400,000.
Williams made 325 appearances for Swansea in eight seasons helping them win League One, gained promotion to the Premier League by winning a Championship play-off final and managing to keep them in a safe position in the Premier League.
Everton are also hoping to conclude deals for Crystal Palace’s Yannick Bolasie and Sunderland’s Lamine Kone to improve the quality to their squad with their new owners aiming to push Everton towards a European place.
