London: Aston Villa have signed left-back Aly Cissokho from Valencia on a four-year deal subject to international clearance, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
The 26-year-old French international made 19 appearances on loan at Liverpool last season, helping them finish second in the Premier League.
“Destiny has made it so that Villa Park was where I played my first game [for Liverpool] and now one year later I am wearing the shirt,” he said.
“I remember everything about the game because it was my first here in England — the pitch, the stadium, the fans, everything was incredible.”
Cissokho, whose one cap came in a friendly against Norway in August 2010, is Paul Lambert’s fourth signing of the transfer window after Joe Cole, Philippe Senderos and Kieran Richardson.
He started out with FC Gueugnon in Ligue 2 before moving to Portugal with Vitoria and then Porto, who won the Portuguese title in 2009 after going unbeaten in the league.
In July that year he joined Olympique Lyonnais for €15 million (Dh73.8 million), playing 137 games and scoring twice. He won the French Cup in 2011-12.
In August 2012 Cissokho joined Valencia before moving to Liverpool in August 2013 on a season-long loan.
“After I finished my loan with Liverpool I was keen to come back to play football in England. I knew that Aston Villa was interested and I was very excited to come here,” he said.
