Aston Villa are reportedly edging closer to the signing of Villarreal’s Pau Torres.
Over the past few days, speculation linking Unai Emery’s Villans with the Spanish defender has been intensifying.
For instance, Fabrizio Romano recently claimed that Villa have agreed a deal to sign Torres for around £31million.
The Villains are even set to book his medical for this week as they bid to officially wrap up a deal, he suggested.
Now, Sport Witness has relayed a report from Spain featuring quotes from Villarreal president Fernando Roig.
Estadio Deportivo claims that the deal is ‘far from’ foregone conclusion despite assumptions to the contrary.
Even though the exact price of the operation has apparently been discussed, as well as Villarreal’s replacement, Roig has ‘put the brakes’ on that.
He stressed that Torres ‘has not been sold’ and that negotiations between them and Aston Villa are ‘by no means closed’.
However, Roig admitted that that there are ‘open negotiations to close the operation’ with Aston Villa, though.
“The idea is, as always, to have a better team than last year,” he said, as per ED and SW.
“I think the CEO is doing a very good job reaching agreements from three parties.
“A club that wants to buy, a player that wants to leave and an offer that it satisfies us.
“The market situation is good and I’m happy.”
Villa have enjoyed a superb 2023 so far both on the pitch and in terms of recruitment.
If the Villans manage to sign Torres, this would be a huge statement of intent from the claret and blue side.
The Spaniard has been labelled an ‘amazing’ defender, with an impressive record for Villarreal and 23 caps for Spain.
Emery is a big fan of Torres and it’ll be great to see those two reunite.
Obviously it’s still all speculation at this moment in time. Until we get the official announcements, you can’t blame Roig for downplaying the state of play.
