Aston Villa have signed versatile Caen defender Frederic Guilbert in a deal worth a reported €5m (£4.4m).
Guilbert has signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the Championship giants and will return to Caen to spend the rest of the season in Ligue 1.
Dean Smith’s side announced the arrival of Tyrone Mings on loan from Bournemouth earlier on deadline day but already have one eye on next season.
Guilbert can play right the way across a defensive line and his versatility would have appealed to Smith given Villa’s injury woes at the back this season.
The 24-year-old has spent most of the campaign at right-back but has a commendable WhoScored rating of 7.10 from 19 league games this season.
In fact, only Benjamin Andre (82) and Jacques-Alaixys Romao (74) have made more tackles than Guilbert (63) in Ligue 1 this season.
Guilbert, however, was sent off in a league match for the first time in his career in his last appearance and has picked up 18 yellow cards in Ligue 1 since the start of last season.
