Bjorn Engels will soon be leaving Aston Villa to return to Belgium with Royal Antwerp.

The 26-year-old defender joined French club Reims shortly after Villa’s promotion to the Premier League in 2019.

He impressed in his first preseason at Bodymoor Heath and secured a place in Dean Smith’s starting XI in the first part of the 2019/20 campaign, forging a partnership with Tyrone Mings at the heart of the defense.

But Engels lost his place in the squad after football resumed last June after a three-month hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.

He hasn’t played a single minute of first-team football for Villa since, his last appearance in burgundy and blue arriving in the 4-0 loss to Leicester City in March 2020.

Smith preferred Mings, Ezri Konsa and Kortney Hause at center-back and could strengthen himself further this summer after sanctioning Engels’ exit.

A club statement said: “Aston Villa has reached an agreement with Royal Antwerp for the transfer of Bjorn Engels, subject to a medical examination being carried out this weekend.”

Villa have already signed two summer signings in the form of Emiliano Buendia and Ashley Young, who returned to the club for a free transfer earlier this week, a decade after leaving for Manchester United.