Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has discussed the influence Pau Torres will have for us after his arrival this summer, and the competition for places at centre-half.
Given the experience and pedigree that the 26-year-old Spanish international possesses, he will hopefully be a key addition to the squad as we look to become increasingly competitive and raise the level within the group.
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As we look to compete on multiple fronts too with the hope of going far in the cup competitions, the Europa Conference League and also building on the progress we showed under Emery in the Premier League, depth and competition for places will be necessary if we want to take that next step.
Torres will now battle it out with Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa and Diego Carlos for a starting place, and while all four centre-halves are expected to play a key role and get minutes, there is also the possibility that Emery tweaks things in defence at times and deploys Konsa at right-back.
The Villa boss spoke about that in his press conference in Philadelphia on Saturday, and it’s clear that Torres will be crucial not only with what he brings defensively, but also with his ability and technical quality on the ball to help us retain possession and be more efficient with our build-up play.
“Pau Torres is giving us, defensively and offensively… the build-up was very important last year and I want to improve in it,” he told the media, as per VillaTV. “We can face the season with four really, really high level centre-backs because I think Konsa and Mings played very well last year and they were amazing, Carlos is also going to be very important next year and Pau Torres is adding a new quality as a centre-back and trying to be strong.
“The idea is to be strong in our build-up and to be strong defensively with our centre-backs, and the idea could change, it depends, but I want to play with two centre-backs, even with three centre-backs, depending on a little bit on how we can build our structure win the build up. I am very happy because in all competitions which we are going to play and are going to face we want to be competitive in all competitions, we will need players.”
That could be a hint that we won’t look to replace Ashley Young this summer with Konsa perhaps being a more regular option to alternate with Matty Cash at right-back, while Calum Chambers is also an option if needed.
For a club looking to step up to the next level now and compete for trophies, it’s necessary to have high quality options in every position, and we certainly now have that in our backline.
What will be interesting though is who emerges as the settled and preferred pairing more often than not, as Emery will surely want some consistency and familiarity in that area of the pitch too.