Aston Villa ‘remain keen’ on Villarreal centre-back Pau Torres this summer, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian journalist added on Twitter that Unai Emery, who coached the 26-year-old at Estadio de la Ceramica, is a ‘big fan’ of the Villarreal star.
The issue Aston Villa might have is that German giants Bayern Munich are also seemingly fishing for his talents and they have been ‘informed on the conditions of the deal’ for the player.
After signing Alex Moreno in January, the transfer links to the likes of Atletico Bilbao star Nico Williams and the arrival of the new President of Football Operations, Monchi.
Then fans should expect more rumours surfacing around La Liga players, Spanish players, players Emery has previously worked with, or all three.
That’s the case with Torres, who has been one of the outstanding defenders in La Liga in recent years, which has seen him earn 23-caps for Spain and win the Europa League with Emery, as Romano dropped this update.
Aston Villa’s backline
As the 2022/23 season progressed, Villa became much better at the back, especially at home, with Tyrone Mings and Ezri Kona producing strong performances at the heart of the defence.
It’s interesting that Villa are linked with Torres because that means a big-name player will have to be benched if they sign him and a senior star will have to leave.
Emery has Mings, Konsa, Calum Chambers and Diego Carlos to pick from as his centre-backs, with the latter only starting two games following his big-money transfer last summer, before injury ruined his campaign.
Could the club be willing to let him go just like that? It would be a surprise, if that’s the case. Perhaps Chambers moving out is the better option and then Torres coming in.
It also needs to be noted that the team will be in Europe and they also have to account for injuries, as they can’t have a repeat of the Carlos situation and bringing in Jan Bednarek on a loan deal.
Either way, if Villa can get a deal done for Torres, then it would be quite brilliant and the more competition there is within the team, the better for all.
