Aston Villa have approached Juventus in a bid to sign Rodrigo Bentancur as manager Steven Gerrard makes another ambitious move to strengthen his squad.
The 24-year-old Uruguay midfielder joined Juve from Boca Juniors in 2017 and has won three Serie A titles.
Villa have signed Philippe Coutinho on loan from Barcelona and paid Everton £25m for France defender Lucas Digne in this January transfer window.
Interest in Brighton's Yves Bissouma was not encouraged by the Seagulls.
Gerrard, however, still wants to boost his midfield resources and talks with Italian giants Juve will continue this week.