Aston Villa transfer target and Swansea City defender Mike van der Hoorn could be set to sign a new deal at the Liberty Stadium, according to reports from Football Oranje.

The 26-year old has been a mainstay for the Swans this season, and was subject to interest from the Villans in the latter stages of the January transfer window.

After the Welsh club told Villa that they would have to pay £10million for the Dutchman, Dean Smith's men reportedly turned their attention to signing the powerful defender on a free transfer in the summer, when his current contract expires.

But news has now emerged that van der Hoorn has suggested that he may now sign a new deal with Swansea, after speaking in a recent interview.

"I have an option in my contract, so it’s not really that I transfer free - the club has to decide if they activate that option, so it’s up to them.

And we’re in talks about maybe a new contract - so there are a lot of things in my mind but I just have to decide."

Villa's Achilles heel this season has been their defence - they have conceded 46 goals in the league so far this season, which is considerably more than their promotion rivals.

Dean Smith brought in some new faces in January to help shore up their shaky defence, with Kortney Hause and Tyrone Mings arriving from Wolves and AFC Bournemouth respectively.

After just one win in their previous six league games, Villa currently sit 9th in the Sky Bet Championship table, four points off the play-off places.

The Verdict

This could be a huge blow for Villa in their pursuit of Swansea's Mike van der Hoorn.

He is a strong, powerful defender who is a very able player at Championship level, but if Villa had to pay around £10million for him, I'd say they should look elsewhere.

It would be a coup if they were to land the Dutch stalwart, but after this interview, it looks like it will be quite hard or quite expensive to land him in the summer now.