34-year-old striker Dimitar Berbatov, a free agent after being released from his Monaco contract this summer, has signed for Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki.
Multiple reports across England suggested that Aston Villa was heavily pursuing the former Manchester United, Tottenham, and Fulham striker, even flying him into Birmingham on Deadline Day and sending former Villa player and Bulgarian international Stylian Petrov to pick him up, but the two parties never came close to agreeing to personal terms.
Instead, Berbatov chose a club that has finished top three in the Greek top flight four times in the past six seasons, but has not won a league title since 1985. PAOK did not release details of the contract, but according to Transfermarkt, Berbatov signed a one-year contract.
Berbatov has proven to be productive despite his age, scoring seven times in 26 Ligue 1 appearances last season with Monaco, although he faded down the stretch, scoring just twice after Christmas in 14 appearances, managing just three full 90 minutes over that span.
PAOK will unveil Berbatov to Toumba Stadium on Thursday.
Dimitar #Berbatov will be presented to #PAOK fans on Thursday (16:00) at Toumba Stadium.Gates open at 15:00 #transfer http://t.co/1nFXucF6lK
— PAOK FC (@PAOK_FC) September 2, 2015
Meanwhile, Aston Villa had a very quiet Deadline Day, signing just a pair of central defenders in Jolean Lescott and Liverpool loanee Tiago Ilori. The club did most of its business prior to the final day of the window, nabbing French forward Jordan Ayew and Barcelona winger Adama Traore among others.