Aston Villa are reportedly ‘pushing’ to sign Villarreal defender Pau Torres as Unai Emery eyes defensive reinforcements.
The 26-year-old has established himself as one of the top centre-halves in Europe, having solidified his place as a key figure for Villarreal while earning 23 caps for Spain.
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Emery knows him well from their time working together prior to his move to Villa last year, and so the Spanish tactician will be fully aware of the qualities and strengths that he could bring to the side.
As per Cadena Ser earlier this month, it has already been reported that Villa have formalised an offer for the Spanish international, but Torres is said to be considering his options and deciding on his future.
Speaking on his podcast, Fabrizio Romano was asked about Tottenham’s possible interest in Torres, but the transfer expert responded with the comment below as it seems that we’re very much in the hunt to land his signature.
“They [Tottenham] have always appreciated Pau Torres, but at the moment it’s Aston Villa that are the club that are pushing for Pau,” he said on his Here We Go Podcast.
Time will tell whether or not that ultimately results in an agreement being reached and a new signing being made, but bolstering our centre-half options is an important task on our to-do list in this summer transfer window.
While both Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa were excellent last season under Emery and not only did they give us a solid foundation on which we could go out and win games, but they were also very impressive in helping us build out from the back, and so they will feel confident in keeping their places.
Villa were boosted by the return of Diego Carlos late last season from his long-term injury and so he’ll certainly feature more heavily next year, but with Calum Chambers our only other option in that position, that simply isn’t enough competition and depth as we look to compete on multiple fronts next season.
In turn, adding Torres would not only address that issue, but it should also raise the level within the group given his talent and experience, and so while it still sounds as though we’ve got work to do to get a deal done, it’s an exciting prospect that we could add such a top player to our ranks this summer.