Unai Emery to monitor Pau Torres amid latest Aston Villa injury issue
We’re delighted to welcome former Aston Villa full-back Alan Hutton as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Villa Park…
Unai Emery will be praying Pau Torres doesn’t get injured while on international duty with Spain in this international break, according to Alan Hutton.
Torres, 26, has had a slow start to life in the West Midlands but despite his relatively poor form, the big-money summer signing from Villarreal was named in the Spain squad for this international break.
However, he was an unused substitute on Friday (8 September) as the 2010 World Cup champions won 7-1 against Georgia in 2024 European Championship qualifying.
Torres’ poor start as a Villan has coincided with Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos both being injured, with Carlos being withdrawn early in the defeat at Liverpool last week.
Hutton believes Emery will not only be closely monitoring Torres’ performances but also his overall game-time with the Spanish team.
“I think if they were honest and you were to ask every single manager, they would be against any player leaving for international duty,” Hutton told Villa News.
“But it is what it is and it’s something you have to deal with.
“Diego Carlos is injured – I don’t know how serious that is – and Tyrone Mings is out so Torres will be a main centre-back moving forward.
“All managers will have a keen eye on exactly what’s happening to their players on international duty and be hoping they don’t play too much.”
Torres has played six times since joining Villa in July for around £31.5million.
His Premier League debut against Newcastle saw him come off the bench to replace the injured Mings before he struggled through a 5-1 defeat at St James’ Park.
The Spaniard has also kept clean sheets against Everton and Hibernian, played in a 3-1 win at Burnley and, most recently, featured in 90 minutes of the 3-0 loss at Liverpool.
In other Aston Villa news, the club has made a Manchester City-esque transfer shift after a deal of “pure profit” was completed.