Sevilla president Jose Castro has defended selling Diego Carlos to Aston Villa.

The Brazil defender's move to Villa was confirmed last week.

Castro explained: "A lot of people don't know, but we never had an offer from Newcastle of €45m in January.

"If we sold him for €31m, it is because that is its market value.

"We are never afraid to sell players and have won a lot with this strategy."

Last season, Carlos played 45 matches in all competitions for Sevilla and scored three goals.