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Already permanently signing Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth and Kourtney Hause from Wolves, as well as adding Ezri Konsa from Brentford, Aston Villa aren’t done with bolstering their defence for next season’s tough Premier League campaign.

According to L’Equipe, the newly promoted side are in ‘advanced negotiations’ with Stade de Reims in France for Björn Engels.

The 24-year-old defender spent last season on loan from Olympiakos with the French side before making the move permanent for £3.6m.

However, L’Equipe suggest his permanent stay with the Ligue 1 club could be short, as ‘discussions could very quickly get done’ for the former Belgium U21 international.

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Engels played a key role in Reims’ great 2018-19 campaign that saw Reims widely exceed expectations, as they finished eighth ahead of teams such as Bordeaux and Monaco, one point behind Nice.

There’s no fee mentioned, but you would expect the French side to want to make a good profit on their original £3.6m expenditure.