Aston Villa are reportedly in the lead to sign Villarreal defender Pau Torres, as Unai Emery has helped convince him over a move to join us.
The 26-year-old has emerged as a serious target for Villa this summer as Emery seemingly prioritises strengthening his defensive options to add real competition in the centre-half positions.
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Torres has established himself as one of the top defenders in Europe during his time with Villarreal and through his caps for Spain, but with just a year remaining on his current contract, he has been linked with an exit this summer.
According to Relevo, Torres is now ready to leave and begin a new chapter in his career, and it’s noted that Villa are in the lead to land his signature due to Emery’s insistence and how the Villa boss has sold our project to him.
Talks have been held between the pair and while the report does suggest Torres wasn’t convinced at first, he’s now open to a reunion with Emery and there is an ‘understanding’ between the parties.
However, there is still no agreement between the two clubs on a transfer fee, and while it’s suggested that Bayern Munich could also become an option for him, there will be a desire from Villa’s perspective to get things moving now in order to complete a transfer.
Villarreal will want a significant fee for their prized asset regardless of his contract situation, and so while it appears as though we’ve made a crucial breakthrough on the personal terms side, we need to produce an offer that convinces the La Liga side to green light an exit too.
Villa have already secured the signing of Youri Tielemans on a free transfer to bolster our midfield options and depth. It’s hoped Torres is next to strengthen the defence further to give Emery another important solution ahead of a big season next year where we’ll look to compete on multiple fronts for silverware.
Relevo though make an interesting point in relation to our financial situation too in their report, as they suggest that we’re keen to lower the asking price as much as possible with an eye on Financial Fair Play and avoiding sanctions.
They note the wealth of our owners isn’t in question and so the willingness to spend is there, but not at the cost of falling foul of the parameters in place, and so it will be interesting to see if we can offer enough in this instance for Torres, and what that might mean for the rest of our transfer window.
