Aston Villa will reportedly pay a further €5m to Villarreal for Pau Torres, after an add-on in their agreement was triggered this past season.
The 27-year-old arrived last summer and established himself as a fundamental piece in Unai Emery’s side, making 39 appearances across all competitions.
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Injuries disrupted his campaign at various points, but as well as scoring two goals and providing an assist to go with his defensive work, the Spanish centre-half was an integral presence in the Villa XI given his influence on our build-up play and his importance in helping the team develop and establish a style of play.
It has proven to be a shrewd move from Villa and Emery, and given we secured qualification for the Champions League next season and enjoyed a successful year with progression and improvement, it won’t be too much of a concern that we are set to pay out an additional fee for Torres.
According to El Periodico Meditaerraneo, an add-on bonus in the agreement for the Spaniard has been triggered as he met the criteria in terms of number of appearances while we also qualified for the Champions League.
In turn, while it’s reported that we paid an initial €33m to sign him, we will now pay Villarreal another €5m as per the bonus terms in the agreement given that the relevant conditions have been satisfied.
While it’s a significant total fee, the reasons outlined above make the overall package worthwhile, as Torres will undoubtedly continue to play a key role for us as we now prepare to face the best sides in Europe while trying to solidify our position as a top-four club in the Premier League.
It will perhaps impact our financial planning for this summer though as we continue to balance our books to avoid breaching PSR, but in isolation, it’s money well spent given what Torres brings to this Villa side and the progress we’ve enjoyed over the last year or so with his influence at the back.
