Heaton Hails Villa ‘Momentum’

Tom Heaton has vowed to bring “experience” to a “young, hungry” Aston Villa side showing “momentum” after signing from Burnley.

The 33-year-old England goalkeeper moves to Villa Park for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £8million, and becomes the 11th new arrival since Villa won promotion back to the Premier League in May.

When discussing the move, Heaton, who was entering the final year of his contract at Burnley, where he made nearly 200 appearances after moving to Turf Moor from Bristol City in 2013, told the Villa website: “There’s momentum here – you could see that from afar. ”

This club got the ball rolling last season and it turned into a huge success story in the second half of the campaign.

To gain promotion was absolutely brilliant. “It’s been a busy window so far – a lot of signings. But it needed to happen, with a lot of players having also left the club.”

The majority of the signings are young, hungry and athletic. It’s a really exciting time for Aston Villa and I’m delighted to be a part of that. “Hopefully, I’ll bring a bit of experience to it.”

Villans boss Dean Smith added: “I am delighted that Tom is joining Aston Villa. He’s done fantastically well for Burnley over the past few years and his experience and knowledge of the Premier League will be a major asset to us this season.”