Aston Villa have completed the signing of Ireland defender Richard Dunne after the Premier League ratified his £6million move from Manchester City.
Dunne was unable to finalise his switch to Villa Park on Tuesday despite the paperwork having already been sent off to the Premier League.
However, the delay has proved short-lived and Villa have now confirmed the capture of the Dublin born Ireland international.
Villa boss Martin O'Neill had been keen to improve his options in the centre of defence after losing Martin Laursen to retirement and selling Zat Knight to Bolton.
Dunne will be in contention to make his Villa debut in the local derby against Birmingham City Sunday week & his move will allow him to now concentrate on Ireland's crucial World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on Saturday.
City boss Mark Hughes paid tribute to Dunne "Richard has been outstanding for Manchester City. He is the ultimate professional and has served the club magnificently.
"Winning the player of the year award for four consecutive years tells you everything about him. We all wish him well for his future career at Aston Villa.
"It would have been difficult for Dunney to stay given his standing at the club and I understand that. I wasn't going to stand in his way.
"I could have tried to stop him going and said I wanted him as a squad player, but out of respect for what he has done for City I wasn't going to do that."
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