Premier League side Aston Villa officially announced the addition of Pau Torres to their side following a 35 million pound transfer from Spanish side Villareal.
He becomes Villa’s second signing of the transfer window so far, following the acquisition of Leicester’s Youri Tielemans on a free transfer.
This move reunites Torres with former Villareal boss Unai Emery, whose top priority was to sign Pau to his side this summer, once again.
Welcome to Aston Villa, @PauTTorres. 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/hUxY8xbZEX— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 12, 2023
The 26-year-old played under Emery at Villareal between 2020 and 2023, before Emery left the La Liga side to make his comeback to the Premier League.
Torres, who is a product of Villareal’s Youth Academy, made 173 appearances for his boyhood club. He played a pivotal role in leading the team to their Europa League-securing fifth-place finish last season, as the 26-year-old anchored their defence throughout the season.
When he made his first Villarreal appearance in 2016, he became the first player born in the small Valencian town to debut for the club in 13 years.
Torres quickly established himself as a key player in the squad, winning the 2021 Europa League under Emery when he was among the scorers in the penalty shootout victory over Manchester United.
He made his debut for Spain in 2019 and has played both at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
Torres, who has made 23 senior appearances for the Spain national team, will join the likes of Tyrone Mings, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa as Villa’s centre-back options.
He had one year left on his contract at Villarreal and had a 55 million pound release clause, but Villa negotiated a 35 million pound fee to secure their latest transfer signing of the summer so far.
Villa, who have made an excellent comeback this past season by securing a Europa Conference League spot, following their disappointing 2021/22 season where they finished 14th, will be looking to make advances into Europe under the leadership of their boss Emery, who has captured the Europa League trophy in his previous stint.
