The Premier League champions are pursuing a deal for Villareal defender Pau Torres and have contacted his agent over a possible €60m move according to Cadena SER journalist Xavi Sidro.
Manchester City has faced numerous defensive dilemmas this season, with injuries to starting defenders Ruben Dias and Kyle Walker blighting the Citizens over the course of the last month.
This was aggravated with both John Stones and Nathan Ake going off injured in Manchester City’s recent midweek Premier League match – a 3-0 victory over Brighton at the Etihad Stadium.
It is problems such as these that are likely encouraging Manchester City to look at signing another defender in the upcoming summer transfer window, with a few possible options outlined for the Citizens’ latest defensive acquisition.
One such player who is claimed to have caught the eyes of Manchester City’s board is Villarreal center-back, Pau Torres – who has been at the Spanish club for 20 years after joining the club’s youth academy in 2002, at the age of just six years old.
Sidro claims that Manchester City have in fact ‘set their eyes on the defender, whose recent displays for Villarreal have ‘attracted‘ the Premier League side.
In the quotes translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Sidro also claims that Manchester City has ‘contacted‘ the agent of Pau Torres, but has not made a formal offer, with the defender’s representatives having ‘received interest‘ from both Manchester clubs.
Pau Torres’ current contract has a €70 million release clause, but it is reported that Villarreal will listen to lower offers. Tottenham Hotspur most notably made a €50 million bid last summer, which the La Liga side sanctioned, but Torres himself declined, preferring to stay and play Champions League football.
Both the Yellow Submarine and Pau Torres have had a fantastic Champions League campaign with Villarreal this season, reaching the semi-finals for only the second time in the club’s history, after beating both Juventus and Bayern Munich on their way.
Villarreal will now face Liverpool in the semi-final, and Pau Torres is expected to be key to any hopes of the team in yellow reaching a maiden Champions League final in May.
Torres has made a total of 127 appearances to date and has scored 10 goals for the Yellow Submarine since his first-team debut in 2017.
