New Aston Villa signing Luke Young has thanked Middlesbrough fans for their support during his time on Teesside.

The England right-back told Boro's website: "I'd like to thank the fans for being good to me last season and everybody at the club for all their efforts to help me settle into the area so quickly.

"I really enjoyed myself and if it wasn't for another club coming in for me I would have been more than happy to stay.

"But an opportunity came up and I think everybody can see it was good for all the parties involved. The club more than doubled their money in a year and they'll be pretty pleased with that, although the manager said he's losing a good right-back.

"I was happy and really enjoyed myself and I want to thank the manager for buying me in the first place.

"But the offer was too good to turn down. At the age of 29 I've got the chance to play European football straight away.

"They're building something at Boro but at my age an opportunity like European football here and now was one of the reasons I moved."