Aston Villa are attempting to reunite Unai Emery with Pau Torres in the Premier League as reports from Spain say that an ‘official offer’ has now been submitted for the Villarreal centre-half.
The Midland giants might not land every one of their transfer targets – Ferran Torres hoping to stay at Barcelona, Marco Asensio joining Manuel Ugarte at Paris Saint-Germain – but you certainly cannot fault their ambition.
In addition to Torres, Asensio and Ugarte, Aston Villa are also chasing a £40 million-rated Spain international Unai Emery knows like the back of his hand.
The Villa boss worked with Pau Torres at Villarreal; an elegant, ball-playing, left-sided centre-half who became a key figure during Villarreal’s thrilling run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2022. Now, a reunion may be on the cards.
Will Pau Torres reunite with Unai Emery at Aston Villa?
Cadena Ser report that Villarreal have already received two ‘official offers’ for Torres. One of those has supposedly come from Villa Park.
It remains to be seen exactly how much Villa have offered. But billionaire owners Wes Edens and Nayef Sawiris have shown a willingness to back their managers since returning to the Premier League in 2018, and Torres – per the Birmingham Mail – is right at the top of Emery’s summer wishlist.
“Pau Torres is an amazing player,” the former Arsenal boss once told Football London of Torres, who turned down a move to Tottenham Hotspur back in 2021.
“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.”
Emery’s interest in the Castellon-born 26-year does, however, raise doubts over the future of some of Aston Villa’s biggest names. One of the first names on the team sheet over the last five years; Tyrone Mings is the man most likely to lose his place in Torres arrives.
And that’s without mentioning Diego Costa; a player who arrived amid such lofty expectations a year ago but has barely kicked a ball in anger due to injury.
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