Aston Villa enquired about signing the former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from Club Brugge, according to HLN.
It is claimed that Villa were one of several foreign clubs – including Rennes and others in England and Spain – to do so.
But they are said to have been informed that Brugge were ‘not open to negotiations or creative details’.
The reason, according to HLN, is that Mignolet, like Hans Vanaken – the Brugge midfielder for whom Aston Villa’s Premier League rivals West Ham are claimed to have offered more than £13.6 million – is deemed crucial to the club’s league and European ambitions.
And their value on the field, as well as in the locker room, is said to be more important than the ‘millions’ Brugge could earn in transfer fees.
Aston Villa will perhaps not be too dismayed by their apparent failure to land Mignolet, having already signed the former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for a fee rumoured to be worth up to £20m.
The Villans also employ several others in Mignolet’s position, including Tom Heaton, Jed Steer, Orjan Nyland and Lovre Kalinic.
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