Aston Villa agree deal to sign Pau Torres from Villarreal
Aston Villa have agreed a deal with Villarreal to bring defender Pau Torres to Villa Park, after the player agreed personal terms, as per a report in The Athletic.
Torres emerged as one of Villa’s top targets early in the transfer window, with the deal set to see the Spain international reunite with his former manager Unai Emery, as the two enjoy a close relationship.
Fabrizio Romano has shared that the fee for the Villarreal star is “way less” than his release clause, which was rumoured to be set at around £42.7million, in what will be seen as a real coup by Emery and Villa.
The new signing has 23 caps for Spain and was part of their 2022 World Cup squad, while playing 39 games for Villarreal last season, leading the Yellow Submarine to a fifth-placed finish in La Liga.
A real statement of intent
Torres was linked throughout the transfer window so far, and in many previous, to some of the top clubs in world football. Manchester United were reportedly big admirers of the player, as were Juventus, Napoli, and more recently Bayern Munich, as previously reported by Romano [27th June].
Signing a player who is so highly regarded across Europe is a huge statement of intent by the Villans, who will look to improve on their 7th-placed finish last time out.
Torres arrives at Villa in the wake of last season’s marquee centre-back signing Diego Carlos having made just three appearances for the club, while Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa proved to be good options, but neither up to the level of Villarreal’s main man.
Villa will be going into the new season with intentions of replicating West Ham’s Europa Conference League win, with the Irons having shown that European silverware is readily available, should the competition’s stronger clubs (of which Villa are one) take it seriously.
In other Aston Villa news, Turkish giants Besiktas have reportedly submitted a formal bid for this Villa star