Harewood agreed terms and passed a medical on Friday, and let Wigan officials know on Saturday of his desire to accept terms offered to him.
However, Villa manager Martin O'Neil made an 11th hour approach, and has signed Harewood on a three-year deal.
On signing, Harewood said: "I went up to Wigan to see Chris Hutchings [the manager] and he's a lovely bloke, I was all set to sign on the Monday when I got a phone call saying Martin O'Neill wanted to speak to me.
"I might have had a better chance of getting into Wigan's first team, but, with no disrespect to them, when Martin O'Neill phones you up asking you to join a massive club like Aston Villa, and he's explaining what he wants to do and how he wants to go about it, that sold it to me."
Loosely translated, this means "I was offered lots of money to sit on the bench."
Footballers today.
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