Aston Villa’s newest signing Daphne van Domselaar has said that the promise of regular first-team football led to her making the move to the Midlands club.

The 23-year-old is the Netherlands’ number one goalkeeper, having been capped 13 times, and she says it is “important” for her international prospects that she plays week in, week out, at club level:

“After six years of Twente, I am ready for a new step. Aston Villa has given me the confidence that I can make playing minutes there. And it is a great club, where I can also develop as a person and as a player. They are doing very well these few years and I want them to grow to the top and that is exactly what I want.”

“I am now in a period of my career when I think: I have to make playing minutes. With a view to the Dutch national team, that is the most important thing for me. I think I am also happiest when I play. So perhaps a club like Aston Villa instead of a Chelsea.”

Van Domselaar was known to be a target for Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, so whether Chelsea were in for her as well, it is not known, but her remarks do suggest that some interest from the Blues was there.

In any case, Hannah Hampton, who van Domselaar is replacing at Villa, is expected to join Emma Hayes’ side on a free transfer anyway.

What do we know about van Domselaar?

After playing youth football for LSVV and Telstar, she joined FC Twente in 2017, where she was understudy to Nicky Evrard for the first two seasons.

However, van Domselaar became first-choice keeper at the start of the 2019/20 campaign, having now racked up 115 appearances in all competitions for Twente over the past six years.

The Dutch international is very highly rated, having been the only Eredivisie player named in The Guardian‘s list of the 100 best women players in the world back in December.