Antwerp are eyeing a move for Aston Villa defender Bjorn Engels this summer as they want a ‘big name’ for their defence.
That’s according to Voetbalkrant, who back up reports from yesterday that the Villa defender could be set for a return to his home country.
We covered a report from Voetbal Belgie yesterday that stated Engels can ‘count on’ interest from Antwerp this summer if he is allowed to leave Villa, which is looking extremely likely given he hasn’t featured for the Villans this season.
Their stance as that the interest was very much there from the Belgian side, and Voetbalkrant back that up today.
They state that Engels can ‘relaunch’ his career in the Jupiler Pro League after being ‘sidetracked’ at Aston Villa this season.
That makes a transfer ‘inevitable’, and Antwerp are ‘at the very front’ of the line of his suitors should that happen.
They want to strengthen their defence with a ‘big name’ this summer, and Engels was already on Luciano D’Onofrio’s list of targets in the January transfer window.
That move never materialised, but D’Onofrio ‘hopes to do a thing’ with the situation and get his man this summer instead.
Engels is currently valued at €4m and has a deal with Aston Villa until 2024, but there is a belief he will be able to leave ‘for a shot’ – which suggests Villa would not ask for anywhere near that to get him off the books.
