Aston Villa should battle rivals West Brom for international defender Knudsen

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West Brom are weighing up a move for Ipswich Town’s Danish international defender Jonas Knudsen, according to the Birmingham Mail.

Knudsen is reportedly entering the final months of his Portman Road contract and with the Tractor Boys struggling at the wrong end of the table, it looks as if he could be tempted to move on.

He has reportedly been offered a new deal at the club – but he has stalled – and Ipswich would rather sell him this month than see him leave in the summer.

The Baggies are looking to strengthen their defence ahead of a pursuit of automatic promotion, but their Midlands rivals Aston Villa are also in dire need of defenders in their own chase to make the play-offs.

The defence that Steve Bruce left for Dean Smith was woefully short on numbers, and Neil Taylor at left-back has struggled at times this season.

Knudsen would be a vastly experienced upgrade, with a long throw to boot as an additional attacking weapon to help Smith’s side get their play-off bid back on track.

His contract situation offers Villa a rare opportunity to engineer a cut-price deal, and they can’t afford to let West Brom steal a march on that.