Tiago Ilori has revealed that manager Tim Sherwood's presence at Aston Villa was among the reasons why he joined the club.
The Liverpool centre-back, 22, joined the Villans on a season-long loan on deadline day, and the Portuguese, who never made a senior appearance for the Reds, is relishing the prospect of improving under Sherwood.
"It was all last-minute so I'm relieved that I had such a good option and I'm very happy to be here. I can't say I know everything about Aston Villa's history but I know that they're a very stable team," he told the club's official website.
"I know about Tim especially. He has a reputation of grooming young players and that's one of the main reasons why I'm excited to be working with him.
"It's always been a dream of mine to play in the Premier League and that's why I signed for Liverpool in the first place. I'm very happy that Aston Villa are hopefully going to give me that chance."
Ilori could feature when Villa travel to Leicester City on Sunday evening.