Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard says Boubacar Kamara and Diego Carlos turned down Champions League clubs to move to Villa Park.

Villa caught the eye by snapping up two of the best available players in their positions early in the window, with midfielder Kamara arriving after his Marseille contract ended, and centre-back Carlos leaving Sevilla for a deal that could be worth £30million.

"To attract players who had options to play in the Champions League is a big coup for the club," said Gerrard, whose side face Manchester United in Perth on Saturday.

"There was no point in me trying to recruit players that were going to make us stand still and I didn't want to recruit players just to add to the numbers. I wanted to make players that were good enough for the XI, to make a difference.

"Diego's going to be a really big man and a leader for us at the back. You can see that straight away and Kamara's going to give us style, he's going to give us a passing range that I didn't feel we had."