Manchester City ‘very well positioned’ to sign Villarreal star
According to a report from Spanish outlet Marca, Manchester City have been scouting Villarreal centre-back Pau Torres for a very long time.
Pau Torres, 24, is widely regarded as one of the top young centre-backs in Europe. Villarreal born and bred, the left-footed defender has grown leaps and bounds since enjoying his breakthrough campaign in 2019/20, where he made 34 La Liga appearances.
Related Story. Manchester City look to replace Laporte with Spanish teammate. light
The Spaniard was helped the Yellow Submarine to Europa League success under Unai Emery last term, enhancing his reputation further. Marca claims Tottenham Hotspur were interested in signing Torres in the summer and made a bid above £50m, but the player rejected the move.
Txiki Begiristain, the Manchester City director of football, has been keeping tabs on the Villarreal star for some time now. The Sky Blues made ‘direct contact’ with Torres’ entourage in the summer over a potential move to the Etihad Stadium. This has made Txiki Begiristain ‘well positioned’ to go for the player should an opportunity arise in the future, adds Marca.
But Torres stayed put at the club he joined back in 2002, committing his future at the Estadio de la Cerámica perhaps for another year. And he has enjoyed a decent start to the season, even though Unai Emery’s Villarreal have won just once in six La Liga games and lie 12th on the table.
Coming back to Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Nathan Ake as centre-back options in his squad. Guardiola’s preference of pairing Laporte with Dias at the heart of the backline has worked out very well so far this term, with City’s defence proving near- impenetrable in the Premier League.
Next. Manchester City interested in South American wonderkid. dark
As things stand, Manchester City don’t need any immediate defensive reinforcements. The report concludes by stating that any possible for Torres could depend on Benjamin Mendy, who is currently suspended, and Aymeric Laporte’s situations.
If Laporte wants to leave the Etihad Stadium and return to Spain at the end of the season, Torres could then be deemed as a potential replacement for his national teammate—the duo who were a part of the Spanish squad that had reached the Euro 2020 semi-finals in the summer.