Villa land Laursen

Aston Villa have made their first move of the summer, signing Denmark defender Martin Laursen from AC Milan for £3million.

Laursen will move to England after falling out of favour at the Giuseppe Meazza following the acquisition of Alessandro Nesta two years ago.

He remains a key member of the Denmark team, however, and will travel to Portugal for Euro 2004.

Capped 33 times for Denmark, Laursen has also turned out for Silkeborg, Verona and Parma.

He had also been linked with Tottenham, Middlesbrough, Feyenoord and Charlton.
His signing comes after manager David O'Leary's decision to allow veteran defenders Dion Dublin and Ronny Johnsen to leave and follows Villa's rise from relegation candidates to European contenders.

The Birmingham side just missed out to Newcastle on a place in the UEFA Cup but Villa chairman Doug Ellis is already looking for an improvement next season.

Ellis said yesterday: "With the new format of the UEFA Cup, once you get through the first round it becomes a league with eight groups of five.

"You then have home and away matches and there could have been £7million or £8million in it for us."

Laursen becomes O'Leary's fourth signing after Thomas Sorensen, Nolberto Solano and Gavin McCann.

However, the Irishman has also cut the playing staff significantly since replacing Graham Taylor, releasing over a dozen players.