Lucy Staniforth joins Aston Villa from Man Utd

Aston Villa have completed the signing of England midfielder Lucy Staniforth from Manchester United, continuing their ambitious January recruitment.

The 30-year-old, who did not travel with the United squad for their warm weather training camp in Malta, has signed an 18-month contract with Villa, following the termination of her deal at United.

The arrival of Staniforth - capped 17 times by England and included in the Lionesses provision squad ahead of Euro 2022 - follows the statement signing of midfielder Jordan Nobbs from Arsenal earlier this month.

"Lucy is someone who will bring a huge amount of experience to this squad," said Villa boss Carla Ward. "She's a winner and is someone who can play off both sides as well as centrally. We're delighted to have her at Aston Villa."

Staniforth joined United from Birmingham in the summer of 2020, and was due to be out of contract at the end of the season. She missed most of the second half of the previous campaign through injury and found herself largely on the periphery in the first half of 2022/23, starting only two WSL games out of nine.

The move to Villa represents a pursuit of more regular playing time, especially with a World Cup on the horizon in the summer. Both Staniforth and Nobbs will take hope from seeing Jill Scott make the cut for Euro 2022 following her loan to Villa this time last year.

The signings of Staniforth and Nobbs sees Villa continue to flex their muscles in the transfer market, having landed fellow Lioness Rachel Daly and France international Kenza Dali in the summer.