Aston Villa ‘confident’ as £40m target tells club he wants to leave

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Pau Torres has decided to leave La Liga outfit Villarreal this summer with Aston Villa boss Unai Emery hoping for a reunion in the Premier League. 

Two years ago, the Spain international centre-half turned down a move to Tottenham Hotspur, insisting that there were still a few chapters to be written in his Villarreal story. 

Fortunately for Aston Villa, it seems Pau Torres now feels he has achieved all he can at his hometown club. A repeat of 2021 – when the Villarreal-born colossus rebuffed Spurs’ advances – feels increasingly unlikely; Torres opening the door to a reunion with a coach who took the Yellow Submarine to the brink of the Champions League final just over 12 months ago. 

Torres, according to Marca, has told his agents to inform Villarreal of his decision. He has just one year left on his contract and feels the time is right for a new challenge. Perhaps in the knowledge that an impressive debut season in the Premier League would be a major boost to his chances of starting for Spain at the 2024 European Championships on German soil. 

Pau Torres keen on Aston Villa move

Aston Villa are currently in pole position, despite rival interest from Juventus and Bayern Munich; the Shropshire Star reporting that Villa are now ‘increasingly confident’ of sealing a deal.

There are mixed messages about exactly how much Villarreal want for the academy graduate. Marca believe that offers of over £40 million are required El Periodico di Mediterraneo, however, believe that Villarreal may be tempted to accept as little as £25 million due to his precarious contract situation. 

“Pau Torres is an amazing player,” Emery once told Football London of Torres. “I think he’s top. I’ve been a coach at Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and I’ve never seen a centre-back like Pau Torres. 

“I think he’s going to play at the highest level. He’s playing now in the national team, but he can play in the top teams in Europe very soon.”

Aston Villa signing Torres could bring an end to their pursuit of Southampton’s Armel Bella-Kotchap. Fellow Spain international Nico Williams appears unlikely to join the defender in the Midlands, however, with the £43 million-rated forward set to sign a new contract at Athletic Bilbao.