Friday 21 December 2018 12:22, UK
Croatia international goalkeeper Lovre Kalinic has agreed to join Aston Villa in January.
The 28-year-old has passed a medical with the club and agreed terms on a deal until 2023.
He will officially become a Villa player on January 1, with the fee understood to be in the region of £7m.
Villa head coach Dean Smith said: "We are delighted to be signing someone of Lovre's experience and quality.
"He is an outstanding goalkeeper and we are looking forward to welcoming him when he joins at the beginning of January."
Kalinic, currently playing for Belgian side Gent, has been a long-term target for the Sky Bet Championship side.
Villa were close to signing Kalinic last season, but a failure to secure promotion to the Premier League ended their hopes of concluding the deal.
They also tried to sign him in 2016 but failed to secure a work permit.
Kalinic, who started his career at Hajduk Split, has been capped 14 times by Croatia and was part of the squad that reached the 2018 World Cup final in Russia.
He also featured for Croatia in the 2-1 Nations League defeat to England at Wembley in November.
Villa currently sit eighth in the Championship, three points off the play-off positions, despite having conceded 34 goals so far this season - the sixth most in the Championship.
Norway international goalkeeper Orjan Nyland has featured most for Villa this season since joining from FC Ingolstadt in the summer, with Mark Bunn and Andre Moreira in reserve.
