"Dream" switch excites Nicklas Helenius

Nicklas Helenius has admitted that he cannot wait to begin life as an Aston Villa player.

The Premier League outfit confirmed this afternoon that they had agreed to sign the Danish striker on a three-year contract from Aalborg BK.

"This is a big opportunity for me, a big dream to play in the Premier League with a club with the history of Aston Villa and I'm very excited," the 22-year-old told the club's official website.

"I've been to see the stadium and it's tremendous. The atmosphere inside Villa Park can be incredible, I know this from watching games on TV from Denmark where the Premier League, obviously, is really big. I've watched Premier League football since I was eight years old.

"I thought that maybe when I was 28 or something I might eventually be able to move to the Premier League having made my mark in Danish football but now I have my chance and I think this is the right club for me with all the other young players in the side who want to do well and achieve something together."

The frontman, who scored 16 goals and made seven assists last season, went on to admit that he is looking forward to linking up with some of his new attacking teammates.

"I know we have a young team and I know we came through a test last season and got better as a team over the course of the campaign," he added. "I watched the game against Liverpool at Anfield and was very impressed by the way the team played. As we got more confidence in the game, we became better and better and won 3-1 with some great attacking football.

"In Gabby Agbonlahor and Andi Weimann, for example, we have good players who have great speed and energy and a real love for playing for Villa. You can see this and you can also see the strength and quality of Christian Benteke. It is really exciting to be a part of this and I'm looking forward so much to pulling on the shirt and getting to know my new teammates."

The centre-forward has become manager Paul Lambert's fourth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Leandro Bacuna, Aleksandar Tonev and Jores Okore.