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Aston Villa sign Nigeria defender Rofiat Imuran
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Aston Villa have signed Nigeria defender Rofiat Imuran from London City Lionesses ahead of the 2026/27 season, subject to visa approval.
- The 22-year-old full-back becomes Villa’s ninth summer signing after a club career that began at Stade de Reims and continued in England.
- Imuran has had limited recent playing time for Nigeria but remains part of the national-team setup and hopes to establish herself at a higher level.
Rofiat Imuran is moving to Aston Villa after a club career that has advanced more quickly than her role with Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
I’m very excited to be here, and I want to achieve a lot of things. It’s a big club with a lot of history, and it has big ambitions, and I want to be part of it.
The 22-year-old defender joins from London City Lionesses ahead of the 2026/27 season, subject to visa approval. Aston Villa said she is the ninth addition to its squad during the summer transfer window.
Imuran began her senior career with Stade de Reims in France, making 27 league appearances and scoring seven goals across two seasons. She moved to England in 2024, and her performances for London City Lionesses earned her another opportunity in the Women’s Super League.
Rofiat is an exciting young defender who already has good experience in English football and at the international level.
Her international opportunities have been more limited. Imuran made her senior debut for Nigeria in 2022 and was included in squads for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. At the latest WAFCON, she largely served as a substitute and appeared once, coming off the bench in a 1-0 win over Zambia.
She brings pace, energy and quality to our defensive options, and we believe her attributes are a really good fit for how Natalia wants the team to play.
Imuran said Aston Villa’s history and ambitions attracted her. Women’s football director Marisa Ewers said the defender’s pace, energy and experience suited manager Natalia Arroyo’s style. Ewers also said Villa wanted to build stronger links with African football and develop talent from the continent.
As a club, we have ambitions to build stronger connections across Africa and continue to identify and develop exciting talent from the continent. Rofiat’s arrival is another positive step in that direction.
About this summary
Originally published by Premium Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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