Atletico Madrid sign England right back Kieran Trippier

MADRID -- Atletico Madrid confirmed the signing of England international defender Kieran Trippier on a three-year deal on Wednesday evening.

The 28-year-old right back joins Atletico from last season's beaten Champions League finalists Tottenham Hotspurs for a fee of around 25 million euros (about $28 million) and will be the first Englishman to play for the club since the 1930s.

Trippier will provide competition for Colombian defender Santiago Arias and his delivery from set pieces could be important for Diego Simeone's side.

The man who was the first choice for England in the 2018 World Cup finals may not be the only arrival at Atletico this week with the side that finished behind FC Barcelona in last season's Liga Santander expected to seal a deal for Espanyol's Spain international central defender Mario Hermoso for a similar fee.

A former Real Madrid B-team player, 24-year-old Hermoso improved drastically last season as Espanyol finished seventh in the Liga Santander to qualify for the knockout stages of this season's Europa League and his performances also earned him a call up into the Spanish national team squad.

His departure will a major blow for new Espanyol coach David Gallego ahead of Espanyol's European debut at the end of this month, a game in which the club hopes that Chinese forward Wu Lei will be able to play.

Wu Lei has been given the all clear by the Espanyol medical staff to resume full training with the rest of the squad following an operation to clear up a long-standing shoulder injury at the end of May.