Villa in talks with Club Brugge for defender Ordonez

What the report says

Aston Villa are in discussions with Club Brugge over a move for central defender Joel Ordonez, according to BBC Sport Football. The Premier League club are said to have turned their attention to the Ecuador international after failing to reach agreement with Southampton for Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

BBC Sport reports that Club Brugge want a minimum fee of £40m for the 22-year-old, who has made 124 appearances since joining from Independiente del Valle in 2022. Ordonez also featured for Ecuador at this summer’s World Cup, adding to his profile as Villa look to strengthen their defence.

The push comes after Villa sold Ezri Konsa to Arsenal and lost their opening league match 4-0 to Brighton. The club are understood to be active in the transfer market before the 1 September deadline, with Unai Emery’s side also dealing with wider squad uncertainty. Among the issues mentioned by BBC Sport is the future of striker Ollie Watkins, who has been linked with Al-Hilal.

More broadly, the report suggests Villa are reassessing their transfer targets after running into valuation gaps elsewhere. BBC Sport notes that Harwood-Bellis remains a possible option only if talks with Southampton improve, but at present Villa appear to be focusing on Ordonez.