The 24-year-old Berson is set to make his debut for Villa in tomorrow’s friendly international against AZ Alkmaar in Holland.

O’Leary has been tracking Berson since the end of last season and he joins Martin Laursen, Carlton Cole and Vaclav Drobny as Villa newcomers.

Espanyol, Besiktas and Galatasaray were also vying for his services but Berson is relishing his first crack at the Barclays Premiership.

Berson said: “I was very flattered that Villa tried to sign me for so long. They were very keen all the way along to get me.

“There were clubs in Spain and Turkey interested but I wanted to come here. I feel this is the right move for me.”

Berson is Villa’s first French player since the silky skills of David Ginola were brought to the club by John Gregory but they have little in common as players.

Berson said: “I am a very aggressive player. I hate to lose and I like to play a physical game. Hopefully my style is perfect for the Premier League.”

O’Leary, who has been tracking Berson’s progress for almost three years, believes he could be go on to be a bargain buy like Gavin McCann and Thomas Sorensen.

He said: “We have wanted to bring Mathieu in since the end of the season and I think the fans will see he is a bargain.

“I said last summer that McCann and Sorensen were great buys for the money we spent and that proved to be the case. Hopefully we will say the same about Mathieu at the end of this season.”

Villa chairman Doug Ellis insisted that there would be more signings before the August 31 transfer deadline.

He said: “We have brought in four players this summer and we have not finished yet.”