James Chester happy to stay at Aston Villa

In-demand central defender James Chester has committed himself to Aston Villa for the 2018-19 campaign.

Chester has been the subject of at least two separate bids from Stoke City this summer, with the 29-year-old widely expected to leave Villa Park following his team's failure to get out of the Championship last term.

The former Manchester United youngster, however, has revealed that he never wanted to leave his current club, and is now looking ahead to the new campaign.

"I was aware there was interest [from Stoke]," Chester told reporters. "People obviously knew there was a problem at Villa and it was inevitable that players would have to leave unless new owners could be found.

"But I certainly did not want to leave. I have loved my time here and I wanted it to continue. Nothing was accepted and I never had to make a decision about whether my time at Villa was over."

Chester was just one of a number of Villa players linked with a move away this summer, but the club have since received new investment from businessmen Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.