Aston Villa have agreed a deal with Spanish side Villarreal for highly-rated centre-back Pau Torres, it has been revealed.
Unai Emery was keen to add Torres to his ranks, who he has worked with before during his success with the Spanish outfit both domestically and on the European stage.
Torres had previously been linked with moves to Manchester United and Tottenham, but a deal for the left-footed defender never materialized and Villa have used that to their advantage to lure the 26 year old to the Midlands.
He was a regular in the Spain squad before Aymeric Laporte switched allegiances and has appeared 23 times for La Rioja, but his stock has dipped somewhat in the last 12 months.
Nonetheless, he was a key component for Villarreal, appearing 39 times last season. Though he has a 65m euro release clause, it is understood that Villa are set to add him to their squad for ‘much less’, with his contract up in 2024 as things stand in Spain.
Torres will become Villa’s second signing of the summer as they look to build a squad able to compete in the Europa Conference League after they pipped Spurs to a spot in the competition on the final day of last season.
Set to replace Tyrone Mings on the left side of Villa’s defence, Torres will form part of what will be an almost new look centre-back partnership after last summer’s star signing Diego Carlos missed most of his debut campaign with a knee injury.
