Villa sign Rudy Gestede as rebuild continues

Villa have signed Blackburn Rovers striker Rudy Gestede on a five-year-deal.

Gestede scored 22 goals in the Championship last season and has netted 35 times in 64 appearances since joining Rovers from Cardiff in January last year.

He has been continually linked with a move away from Ewood Park and becomes the latest arrival in what is proving a very busy summer at Villa Park.

The club were yesterday set to complete a deal for midfielder Jordan Veretout from Nantes, while boss Tim Sherwood is further poised to increase his side's firepower with the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Spurs.

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Former Villa striker Andy Gray believes bringing in Adebayor would be the wrong move, however.

"Tim got a reaction from Adebayor when he was Tottenham coach and I'm hoping he can get the same kind of reaction," said Gray. "But would I trust Emmanuel Adebayor? No, I wouldn't.

"That is my worry about Emmanuel Adebayor – that he will only turn up when he wants to."