Cardiff sign ex-Villa & Everton winger El Ghazi

Anwar El Ghazi helped Aston Villa win promotion to the Premier League in 2018-19

Cardiff City have signed former Aston Villa and Everton winger Anwar El Ghazi.

The 29-year-old had a medical with the Championship club on Wednesday.

“I’m excited. I’m really hungry and looking forward to playing for this great club," El Ghazi said.

"The city is amazing. I’ve got to feel at home, and from the moment I arrived here I’ve been feeling good."

He was a free agent having had his contract terminated by Bundesliga club Mainz last autumn over a social media post referencing the conflict in Gaza.

Last month a German court ruled El Ghazi was unfairly dismissed.

Born in the Netherlands, El Ghazi is also qualified for Morocco, but opted to represent the Dutch on the advice of Cristiano Ronaldo. He has two full international caps.

El Ghazi began his club career with Ajax before joining French side Lille in a deal worth more than £6m in 2017.

He joined Villa on loan in 2018 before the deal was made permanent, scoring 26 goals in 119 appearances.

He was loaned to Everton in January 2022, making only two appearances before returning to the Netherlands to join PSV Eindhoven and then switching to Mainz last September, signing a two-year contract.

Due to his dispute with Mainz, El Ghazi played only four games last season and has not had a competitive outing since 6 October, 2023.

“I know I’ve not been playing for a while. I stayed fit for myself, but team training is obviously different. When I’m fully fit, I want to help the team where I can with goals, with assists and with my experience. I will give everything for the shirt," added El Ghazi.

Cardiff boss Erol Bulut said: “Anwar knows what football is in the Championship and the Premier League, so he can help us a lot.

"In offensive roles he can play the part, in his creativity, finishing and assists. I think we are getting one player that the fans in the stadium will like, with his skills and moves on the field.

“He will need a little bit of time to get ready, as he was away from football for a long time, but we will get him fit and we will see a quality player in El Ghazi.”