Southampton have turned down a second, significantly enhanced official bid from Aston Villa for 24-year-old central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
Earlier, the Saints promptly rejected an initial offer from the Birmingham side worth £18 million plus add-ons.
Unai Emery's team is in urgent need of bolstering their central defence following the sale of Ezri Konsa to Arsenal. The need for urgent signings became glaringly apparent on Sunday (August 23), when the central defensive pairing of Pau Torres and Victor Lindelof put in a disastrous performance, suffering a humiliating 0-4 defeat to Brighton in their opening Premier League match.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa are advancing in negotiations with Belgian side Brugge over Ecuadorian defender Johel Ordóñez. It's worth noting that the Villa hierarchy does not view the potential transfer of Harwood-Bellis as a mere alternative, but rather intends for him to complement Ordóñez in fully reinforcing their defensive line.
