Aston Villa Transfer News: Taking a Look at Paul Lambert's First Villa Signing

It was announced yesterday that Paul Lambert had made his first signing as Aston Villa manager with the purchase of midfielder Karim El Ahmadi from last season's Eredivisie runners-up Feyenoord.

The Moroccan international joins the club on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee and fills one of the most immediate needs for the Villans. El Ahmadi will look to play a similar role to Stiliyan Petrov, playing as a deep midfielder who will look to dictate the game.

Since the tragic news of Petrov's diagnosis of acute leukaemia, the club has desperately needed another player to replicate his creativity in the middle of the park. El Ahmadi should be the man to do this. The 27-year-old has a great range of passes and is extremely comfortable on the ball. Following his move, El Ahmadi told the Villa website:

"

"As a player, I always want to have the ball and that is my main quality. I always want the ball and to dictate the game. That's what I did at Feyenoord and hopefully I can show the fans, the club and the manager my quality."

"

The Dutch-born Moroccan broke into the national side in 2008 and has been capped 17 times since then, scoring one goal for the North African side.

The one side of his game that may need to be improved is his tackling. He often dives into tackles, which led him to pick up quite a few bookings. However, Villa have been lacking a bit of bite in midfield and El Ahmadi's presence looks to improve that.

While El Ahmadi is the first signing for Lambert as Villa manager, he is the second player to join this summer following the move of Australian Brett Holman from fellow Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

El Ahmad is excited to be linking up with Holman at Villa, and believes the two could work very well together in Villa's midfield. He told Villa's wesbite,

"

"In Holland he showed his quality and now it's good to have him next to me. He's a great player to play with and he never gives up - I don't think I ever saw him standing still on the pitch."

"

This move is very positive for the club and shows that Lambert is aware of the holes that need to be filled in the Villa squad. With the undisclosed fee rumoured to be around the £2.5 million mark, it is also a potential bargain.

Villa fans, what do you think of Lambert's first signing for the club? Comment below.