Aston Villa have completed the signing of Matteo Ruggeri from Atlético Madrid. The Italian left-back has joined Unai Emery’s side, with both clubs confirming the move today.
The fee is reported inconsistently. Fabrizio Romano and the Italian press put it at €25m fixed plus €1.5m in add-ons, a €26.5m package. Spanish outlets report a figure closer to €20m. Neither club disclosed the contract length.
A third club in three years
Ruggeri came through the Atalanta academy and stayed there until the summer of 2025, when he moved to Atlético Madrid for €17m plus €3m in add-ons. He spent a single season in Madrid: 47 appearances and seven assists across all competitions. His minutes dried up after Grimaldo arrived, and the club looked for an exit.
For Atlético it is good business — a profit inside twelve months. For the 24-year-old Italian it is a third club in three years and a first taste of the Premier League.
Villa needed a replacement for Digne
The logic is straightforward: Lucas Digne, Villa’s established left-back, left for Paris Saint-Germain this summer. He still sits in the Fantasy Premier League database carrying a transfer note — if he is in your squad, he is a dead slot.
Emery continues to rebuild. Villa sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for a British record £117m and Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, while Alejandro Garnacho, Johan Manzambi and João Gomes came the other way. Ruggeri completes the left side of the defence.
What it means for your FPL squad
Three things, checked in the game’s database today:
1. Ruggeri is not in the game yet. You cannot buy him before the Gameweek 1 deadline. Transferred players enter the database with a delay, so he will appear over the coming days with a price set by the game.
2. Be careful with Villa’s cheap defenders. Ian Maatsen at £4.5m and Álex García at £4.0m were the natural left-back options. Signing Ruggeri for this money means he is meant to play there — and picking a player who has just lost his place to a new arrival is the simplest way to waste a squad slot.
3. Villa’s centre-back situation is separate. Ezri Konsa is the club’s most-owned defender at 14.7%, but our model rates him only 73. It is one of those spots where popularity runs ahead of quality, as we covered in our pre-deadline checklist.
Villa open the season away at Brighton on Sunday 23 August. The official fixture difficulty is 3 out of 5 for both sides — no clear favourite.
Our full ratings for the position are in the best defenders rundown, and live ratings for every player sit in the FPL AI Player Rankings.
Transfer officially confirmed by the clubs on 19 August 2026. The discrepancy in the reported fee is flagged in the text. Ownership and player status data come from the official Fantasy Premier League API, read on 19 August. Fantasy PL Edge is an independent site, not affiliated with the Premier League or the official Fantasy Premier League game.