Unai Emery is helping Aston Villa pursue further signings before the September 1 cutoff date.
Joel Ordonez has attracted interest from Aston Villa regarding a potential transfer.
Reports suggest Aston Villa have made contact with Club Brugge regarding a move for defender Joel Ordonez. The club is seeking to fill the gap left by Ezri Konsa, whose £55million transfer to Arsenal was finalised last week.
According to The Athletic, Ordonez has received strong backing from Villa’s scouting department and had been observed previously, but the club’s hesitation over committing the necessary funds for the 22-year-old meant an approach was not made at the time. Villa also focused their efforts on strengthening other positions.
With the transfer window now in its closing phase, Villa have renewed their contact with the Belgian club. Ordonez is among three central defensive targets being assessed after the club’s £18m offer for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis was turned down.
Harwood-Bellis was absent from Southampton’s 2-1 victory against Stoke City on Saturday as speculation about his future intensifies, though Villa and Southampton continue to differ on their valuations of the player with negotiations persisting.
Villa’s initial interest in Ordonez emerged last year following their Champions League encounter with Club Brugge, a match Unai Emery’s team lost 1-0 during the 2024/25 campaign.
Villa remain receptive to further business in the transfer market prior to the window shutting on September 1, having already seen several important players leave this summer, including Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Youri Tielemans, while Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez could still leave in the near future.
Villa have made significant additions, securing the signings of Johan Manzambi, Joao Gomes, Matteo Ruggeri, Alejandro Garnacho, Zion Suzuki and Aaron Wan-Bissaka during this transfer period.
An agreement has also been reached for Leon Goretzka on a free transfer.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder is slated to complete a medical examination before putting pen to paper on his contract next week.
Emery has been hunting for another midfield option since Amadou Onana sustained an ACL injury during the World Cup earlier this summer.
Joao Palhinha was identified by Villa for a loan arrangement, but the former Bayern Munich midfielder is instead heading to Benfica on a permanent deal.
Villa will kick off their Premier League season on Sunday (2pm) with a journey to the south coast to play Brighton & Hove Albion.