Crystal Palace are seeking to beat Aston Villa to the signing of Club Brugge defender Joel Ordonez.
Villa turned their attention to the Ecuadorian international after being unable to reach an agreement with Southampton over Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
However, Palace have entered negotiations with the Belgian club for Ordonez, who has been on the Selhurst Park side’s radar for some time.
Palace have intensified their search for a central defender following the injury that forced Chadi Riad to leave Saturday’s match against Everton on a stretcher.
Although Axel Disasi joined the club on loan on Wednesday, Palace remain eager to recruit one more centre-back.
Villa have also spent the past few days trying to secure a deal for the 22-year-old.
After selling influential defender Ezri Konsa to Arsenal last week, the Midlands club pursued Harwood-Bellis, 24. A considerable difference between Villa and Southampton’s valuations prompted Villa to increase their efforts to sign Ordonez instead.
Club Brugge are seeking around £40m for Ordonez, with negotiations continuing.
A fractured metatarsal has kept Ordonez out at the beginning of the new campaign, although he made 46 appearances for Brugge last season.
Since progressing through Brugge’s academy, the defender has recorded 128 first-team appearances and scored seven goals.
Ordonez featured for Ecuador at this summer’s World Cup, sitting out only one match before Mexico knocked his team out in the round of 32.
Palace have already completed six summer signings, including winger Dwight McNeil and central defender Takehiro Tomiyasu.
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