Villa seal £12m deal for Ross McCormack

The Scotland international has signed a four-year contract, after Villa saw off competition from Championship rivals Norwich for his signature.

McCormack has scored 42 goals in two seasons at Craven Cottage, after joining in an £11m deal from Leeds in 2014.

Earlier this summer, Norwich saw a bid of more than £10m rejected for the forward but Carrow Road had looked his most likely destination before Villa made their move and submitted a bid on Tuesday.

It is believed the deal could cost Villa as much as £14m if he fires them back to the Premier League.

The 29-year-old becomes Roberto Di Matteo's fourth signing of the summer.

Di Matteo said: "I'm delighted to bring Ross on board. He's a player with proven track record and plenty of experience in the division.

"He is a player whose goalscoring record has been excellent everywhere he has been and we feel he can be an important addition."

McCormack's arrival could see Scott Sinclair on the move to Celtic, where he is keen to team up with Brendan Rodgers who he worked with at Swansea.

Another player out the door is defender Ciaran Clark who yesterday completed a move to Newcastle on a five-year deal, after they activated a £5.1m break clause in his contract.

Clark who had been at Villa since he was 11, agreed a five-year deal to move to St James' Park.

The 26-year-old had only been 12 months into a five-year contract at Villa Park.

But he opted to move on, citing the fact he believes Newcastle are moving "in the right direction" as one of the reasons why.

He said: "Newcastle is a massive club, so I'm really happy to be here.

"Importantly, it is a club that is moving in the right direction and pushing for the right things, so I'm really excited to be part of that."

Villa are also keen on a loan deal for Manchester United defender Paddy McNair.