"Aston Villa" signed Dutch W.Bouma © EuroFootball.com

Dutch national team defender Wilfred Bouma became another player leaving the club this summer - he moved to English Premier League mid-table team Birmingham for €5.5 million.

The 27-year-old Bouma passed his medical examination on Tuesday and signed a three-year contract with Aston Villa before leaving to join the Dutch national team for World Cup qualifying matches against Armenia and Andorra.

"The main reason I moved to Villa is coach David O'Leary. He clearly said he believes in me and my abilities. This gives me confidence in my skills and is important to me," said Bouma.

Last season, coached by Guus Hiddink, PSV won the Dutch league and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, but then the team's leaders left - M.van Bommel went to Barcelona, J.Vogel to Milan, and Koreans J.S.Park and Y.P.Lee respectively to Man Utd and Tottenham. W.Bouma is expected to replace Dutchman M.Reiziger at the club, moving from Middlesbrough to PSV.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa, finishing tenth in the Premier League in the 2004/05 season, recently strengthened with Czech national team player and former Liverpool striker M.Baroš, who scored a winning goal in his debut match against Blackburn.