Aston Villa has officially signed Chelsea midfielder Oriane Jean-Francois in a permanent deal worth £450,000. The 24-year-old France international joined the Blues from Paris St-Germain last year and made 28 appearances for the club, but struggled to secure regular game time.
Jean-Francois is now set to play an important role for Villa as they look to strengthen their squad in preparation for the second half of the Women's Super League season. The signing forms part of the club's ambitious recruitment drive under new director of women's football Marisa Ewers.
"Impressed" sums up Ewers' assessment of Jean-Francois, who impressed throughout the European Championships as a starter for France, performing consistently at the highest level. Villa believe she will add immediate quality and raise standards within the group.
The 24-year-old midfielder follows Jenna Nighswonger in signing for Villa, who brought in the Arsenal player on loan until the end of the season last week. The club has an option to make the move permanent for the defender, who played only 16 minutes in the WSL this season.
Nighswonger's arrival comes as Villa look to build a competitive squad and continue their growing ambitions. With Jean-Francois on board, they will be looking to push for promotion to the top tier of English women's football in the coming months.
Jean-Francois is now set to play an important role for Villa as they look to strengthen their squad in preparation for the second half of the Women's Super League season. The signing forms part of the club's ambitious recruitment drive under new director of women's football Marisa Ewers.
"Impressed" sums up Ewers' assessment of Jean-Francois, who impressed throughout the European Championships as a starter for France, performing consistently at the highest level. Villa believe she will add immediate quality and raise standards within the group.
The 24-year-old midfielder follows Jenna Nighswonger in signing for Villa, who brought in the Arsenal player on loan until the end of the season last week. The club has an option to make the move permanent for the defender, who played only 16 minutes in the WSL this season.
Nighswonger's arrival comes as Villa look to build a competitive squad and continue their growing ambitions. With Jean-Francois on board, they will be looking to push for promotion to the top tier of English women's football in the coming months.
. The fact that she impressed throughout the European Championships as a starter for France is a major plus point. It's good to hear that new director of women's football Marisa Ewers thinks she'll bring immediate quality and raise standards within the group 
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. The addition of Jean-Francois will definitely give them a boost, and it'll be interesting to see how she adapts to the English Women's Super League environment 
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. Overall, this signing seems like a solid move for Villa, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they progress in the second half of the season 
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I'm still trying to wrap my head around Aston Villa signing Oriane Jean-Francois 
Like, who is this girl? 
She was totally on fire at the European Championships! I mean, 28 appearances for Chelsea isn't bad, but it's clear she needs a change of scenery. And £450k is no joke 
But seriously, I love that Villa is going all in and signing players to strengthen their squad 
It's gonna be so cool to see them take on the top tier and push for promotion! 
Marisa Ewers must know what she's doing 
Jenna Nighswonger was a great addition last week, but Jean-Francois takes it to a whole new level 
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They just signed Oriane Jean-Francois and Jenna Nighswonger back-to-back! That's like, £450k for one player? 
Crazy! According to UEFA, the average WSL player earns around £21,000 per year, so this is like a 20x multiplier 
. Looks like Villa are serious about makin' some noise in the league... 
Chartin' their recruitment drive, they've gone from no wins to 3 in the last 5 matches 
just looked at some stats on Oriane Jean-Francois' goal-to-game ratio last season with PSG... 
but still a great signing for Villa! 
Considering their WSL squad has been making ~1.2 goals per match this season, Jean-Francois could bring up the pace 
16% increase in team efficiency projected with his addition 
did some research on Oriane's European Championship stats... 
she was super consistent as a starter for France 
averaged ~0.82 goals per game, solid form 
71% of her appearances ended in a win for France 
. I mean, Oriane Jean-Francois is a talented player and all, but 450k for him? It's steep, innit? 
Still, gotta give credit to Marisa Ewers for her ambitious recruitment drive, it's gonna be interesting to see how this pans out. And Jenna Nighswonger on loan was a great move, wish they'd just made that permanent already 
. Promotion push, eh? Villa's got some big aspirations now, fingers crossed they can deliver