Norwich City confirm Emi Buendía will join Aston Villa in club record deal

Norwich City have confirmed that they have agreed a club record deal to sell midfielder Emi Buendía to Aston Villa.

It's believed Villa will pay the Canaries an initial fee of £33 million to land the Argentine, although that fee could rise to £38 million in bonuses.

That figure would exceed the £25 million Norwich received from Everton last summer for defender Ben Godfrey.

Buendía will complete his medical after Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Colombia on Tuesday evening, and the move should be officially announced later this week.

The 24-year-old played a key role in helping Norwich gain promotion back to the Premier League last season, scoring 15 goals and providing 17 assists.

That form saw him named the Championship Player of the Season, and led to interest from both Villa and Arsenal.

However, Villa were the only team to meet Norwich's asking price and the Canaries will now have to prepare for life without their talisman who has been a revelation since moving to Carrow Road from Spanish side Getafe for an initial £1.5 million in 2018.

In other news, Norwich have revealed that Asian betting company BK8 will be their new shirt sponsor next season.

The firm will replace Dafabet after the club decided to end their agreement one year early.

It will be the fifth consecutive season that the Canaries have been sponsored by a betting company.

News of the agreement has resulted in a backlash from fans after the club had to ask BK8 to remove pictures of scantily clad women from the company's Instagram page.

The Canaries have since issued an apology on behalf of BK8: "Following concerns and issues raised by Norwich City Football Club and its supporters following our announcement this morning, BK8 would like to wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused by our historical marketing.

 "We accept that this form of marketing isn’t befitting of a Premier League partnership. We have immediately removed all marketing material of this nature and will conduct a review of our marketing strategy moving forward."