Aston Villa have completed their second signing of the January transfer window securing the signature of Everton’s French international left-back Lucas Digne for a fee of around £25m, following the signing of former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho on-loan from Barcelona.

It is understood Digne travelled to Birmingham for a medical on Wednesday before signing a four-and-a-half year deal.

On Wednesday night, Digne posted on Instagram: “Sometimes it only takes one person from outside to destroy a beautiful love affair” ahead of his move to Villa Park. Digne, 28, was the top target for manager Steven Gerrard who looked to increase Villa’s full-back options this month.

He was linked with Newcastle but the Frenchman did not want to move to a club who was threatened with relegation. Digne was also reportedly of interest to Chelsea with Ben Chilwell out for the season with a knee ligament injury. The Champions League winners wanted a loan move only, though, which was not something Everton were interested in.

Digne’s fallout with Rafael Benitez ended up clouding what were his final weeks, with a club he joined in 2018 from Barcelona but over the past three and a half seasons he has been a key player for Everton.

Since he joined in 2018, he has recorded more assists (18) than any other Everton player and led the way for his team in assists and chances created (46) last season.

Everton signed 22-year-old Vitaliy Mykolenko earlier this month as a replacement and while the Ukraine international has experience playing in the Champions League and at the Euros last summer, he clearly cannot match Digne’s quality. So many will of course argue, that Aston Villa have got the better of the two deals considering the Frenchman’s abilities and influence in attack.

Digne, after all, has over 40 caps for France and has experienced title wins with Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. However, it will be his attacking numbers from left-back which will excite the Villa faithful.

At 28, Digne is in his prime and at a level where his attacking output ranks among the best by full-backs in the Premier League. In fact, Digne’s tally of 18 assists in the last three and a half seasons puts him behind only Andrew Robertson (35) as the second-highest goal provider among his positional counterparts — and well ahead of nearest rivals Ben Chilwell (13), Aaron Cresswell and Luke Shaw (both 10).

Also, since the start of last season only Liverpool pair Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson have created more clear-cut chances among Premier League defenders.

Looking at his expected assists (xA) per 90 minutes – measuring the expected goals value of the shot that is assisted – it provides a more useful understanding of how creative Digne really is.

When considering minutes played at left-back and left wing-back since 2018-19, Digne’s 0.18 expected assists per 90 is also the second-highest rate within his positional group, which means for Everton he has been creating chances worthy of an assist once every five games since he arrived at Goodison Park in 2018.

As seen in the image above, off-the-ball, Digne isn’t quite as effective – ranking 46th among Premier League defenders since the start of last season for winning possession, well behind his more creative counterparts Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Shaw and Chilwell. One of the facets of Gerrard’s game is his demand on his full-backs to be as effective and influential in defence as they are in attack, and its certainly an area where Digne will need to improve.

However, with the ball at his feet, whether high-and-wide in the attacking areas, or from dead-ball situations, Digne is at his masterful best delivering crosses that most full-backs can only dream of, and his record of 18 assists since his introduction in the English top-flight in 2018 tells its own story.

Aston Villa currently rank fourth in the Premier League this season for goals created from crosses, and Digne will further strengthen them in this department. That’s not to say Matt Targett hasn’t been effective so far under Gerrard. In fact, Targett has two goal involvements this season (1 goal, 1 assist) compared to Digne’s 0 involvements.

The Frenchman will need to reach top levels again if he is to surpass his new teammate at Villa Park. Targett has rapidly improved in his creativity this season, he’s recorded more passes into the opposition penalty area (1.45 to 0.92), more final third passes (4.21 to Digne’s 2.23) and more progressive passes (5.85 to 3.77) per 90 minutes.

This season, Digne has not been able to showcase his strengths to quite the same degree.

One reason for this is that the team dynamic has been sorely affected by key injuries to Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin. The latter the key focal point in their attack — and build-up play — in recent seasons, the England international was out of action from late August until early this month. Richarlison, Digne’s partner on the left flank has also suffered various injuries this season meaning Digne could perform at his consistent best due to constant chopping and changing. Also, Everton have largely been playing as a counter-attacking unit under Rafael Benitez meaning Digne isn’t as effective as he should be.

The Everton players are asked to stay compact in a deeper block before springing forward at pace, with less focus on considered build-up play towards the attack. Given the technical qualities Digne possesses, you can understand why Digne feels that his skill set is not being maximized by such a strategy, hence the difference in opinion with Benitez.

Having a relationship with a team-mate ahead of him down the left-hand side has been crucial in getting the best out of Digne and that could be with any of Ollie Watkins, Philippe Coutinho or Emi Buendia at Aston Villa. Gerrard deploys a much more expansive and fluid system than his former tutor Rafa Benitez, where the full-backs sit high-and-wide provide width and quality on the flanks while the two no.10s – flanking the mobile striker – tuck into the half-space to disrupt opposition lines and their organisational shape, but also to become the creative force that Gerrard requires of them.

So not only will Villa have resources for goals in their duo of number 10s but also in the wide areas where both full-backs from opposite flanks can provide the telling crosses and passes into the box.

As a result of this difference in tactics, Digne will of course be looking to improve on his exploits this season under Gerrard. The only key creative area Digne performs more than Targett this season is his chances created, (1.69) to Targett’s (1.32), and his key passes in which the Frenchman averages 1.54 key passes per 90 while Targett averages just 1.38.

Targett is a couple of years younger than Digne and has been a reliable and ever-present performer for Villa, playing every game in the Premier League for them last season and picked up the players’ player of the season prize, underlining how well regarded he is at Villa Park.

Digne does edge him in some key stats for full-backs this season as evidenced above and including tackles per 90 minutes, but Villa’s move for the Frenchman isn’t because there is any kind of crisis at left-back but instead part of Gerrard’s plan to create competition for places right across the pitch.

Digne represents the perfect acquisition for Gerrard to boost levels of performance in his squad but also to add piercing quality to a squad that growing increasingly during his tenure.

Villa spent significant money in the summer to add to their options and the moves for Philippe Coutinho and Digne at the start of this transfer window are further signs of the club’s intent to kick on and move up the table. The signs are really promising for Gerrard and his new and improved team.