BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - Iceland midfielder Birkir Bjarnason has left Swiss champion FC Basel to join English club Aston Villa.
Villa says the 28-year-old Bjarnason signed a contract through June 2020. The transfer fee was not revealed by either club.
Bjarnason leaves a club looking for its eighth straight league title to join the 13th-place team in England’s second division.
The 1982 European champions were relegated from the Premier League last year, then hired and soon fired coach Roberto Di Matteo.
Villa is now coached by Steve Bruce, who was interviewed for his country’s national team job after England lost to Iceland in the last 16 of last year’s European Championship.
Bjarnason scored Iceland’s first Euro 2016 goal, against Portugal, and another in the 5-2 quarterfinal loss to France.
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