Aston Villa are set to complete the signing of Pau Torres after an agreement was reached with Villarreal for his transfer.
Reports in Spain indicate that the transfer will be worth no more than £35 million, as Unai Emery continues to build a squad capable of competing across all four fronts next season. The Villa head coach wants two players per position, and options to overcome different opponents.
It’s crucial that Villa have a variety of solutions for the challenges they’ll face next season, given that they could play in excess of 50 matches if they go deep in the UEFA Conference League. Last season, Emery performed a remarkable job at Villa Park after taking over 13 matches into the league campaign.
READ | Why Unai Emery was desperate to sign Pau Torres and what he’ll add to Aston Villa
At the time of Steven Gerrard’s departure, Villa were sitting above the relegation zone on goals scored. Seven months later, they sealed a seventh-placed finish by beating Brighton on the final day of the season.
Villa have come a long way in a short amount of time under Emery, but he couldn’t work his magic on any team. He needed a group of players who were willing to learn, listen to his methods and believe in his philosophy. It’s testament to Villa’s recruitment over the past five years that Emery could pick up the group of players left behind by Gerrard and make an instant impact.
Tyrone Mings was one of Villa’s most consistent performers last season and responded to the setback of being removed as the club’s captain admirably. Gerrard’s short-sighted call to strip him of the armband came back to bite him as he was sacked just a few months later.
That was just one decision which he got wrong, but Mings has not let a tough start to the Premier League season affect him; instead, he was unlucky not to be on the plane to Qatar with England. He continued to flourish under Emery, and played a key role in the club’s turnaround.
Mings started all but one Premier League game under Emery due to injury, and did not put a foot wrong. He was rewarded with a new contract back in February, which was a clear vote of confidence in him from the Villa boss.
Now, the 30-year-old faces a new challenge of competing for a starting spot with incoming signing Torres. Emery has the luxury of selecting from four top quality defenders, in Torres, Mings, Diego Konsa and Diego Carlos. Calum Chambers will now be allowed to leave the club if given the level of competition in that department.
The Villa head coach wants to have options in his team and two players per position. Both Mings and Torres share similar attributes, while the Spain international has worked with Emery previously, and posted some of the best ball progression numbers for a centre-back in Europe last season.
Last season, of all players in La Liga, only six recorded more passes into the final third than Torres, while the centre-back also registered the 10th most progressive passes at 197 throughout the league campaign. He also made up 7,623 yards in progressive carrying distance, which was bettered by only two players in Europe’s top five leagues.
Mings is also capable of fulfilling what Emery wants from his defenders, which is to receive the ball and progress it. Last season, only nine Premier League players recorded a greater progressive carrying distance than Mings.
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