Simone Farina is delighted with his move to Aston Villa.

Farina has been recruited as a community coach by chairman Randy Lerner on the recommendation of INTERPOL after blowing the whistle on match-fixing and bribery in the Italian game.

"For me, working with children makes me very happy and I am delighted to be working with Aston Villa to help to develop young players of the future in our community programme," Farina said.

"I wanted to move on with my life. Now I feel that I have real purpose again because of the support and opportunity Villa have given me. Randy Lerner and Paul Faulkner have been fantastic and already I feel I am part of the Villa family, with the way the club have embraced me.

"I have learnt a lot from the other coaches here and I am trying to give my experience to the children. I am also learning from them because the atmosphere they generate is very positive.

"I know I did the right thing when I refused to get involved in the fixing of a football game. I went to the authorities because this corruption had to be brought to the surface. This level of deception has no place in football or in any walk of life.

"The opportunity here at Villa is perfect for me."