Aston Villa are reportedly on the brink of signing Villarreal defender Pau Torres.
On the back of qualifying for the Europa Conference League through a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, Unai Emery is looking to build a squad capable of achieving more in 2023-24.
Villa have already won the race to sign Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans on a free transfer, with the Belgian having chosen the West Midlands outfit over a number of other attractive options.
However, it is known that Emery is keen to strengthen in the middle of his defence and in the final third, particularly the latter given the potential extra fixtures throughout the season.
The English side will begin their European journey in the playoffs, most likely as an unseeded team and vulnerable to a meeting with a high-profile European club, but it appears that Emery will have sealed one of his top targets for the summer before that double-header.
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According to The Athletic, Emery has convinced Torres to depart Villarreal in order to join his project at Villa Park.
The two Spaniards are familiar with each other having worked together at the Yellow Submarine before Emery departed for Villa last October.
Torres, who is 26 years of age, was part of the Villarreal team that won the Europa League under Emery in 2020-21, before starring during their run to the Champions league semi-finals during 2021-22.
Amid his consistently high-level performances, Torres has frequently been linked with a wide array of high-profile teams such as Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Real Madrid.
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Nevertheless, Torres did not leave Villarreal last summer as expected and he went on to make 34 starts in La Liga this campaign as his team finished in fifth position.
Bayern Munich had been contemplating an approach for Torres to rival Villa, yet they have instead opted to complete a deal for Napoli defender Kim Min-jae.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano says that Villa will pay in the region of £35m to finalise a deal for Torres, who will now rival Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Diego Carlos for a starting spot in the middle of the backline.
Torres usually features on the left-hand side of a back two, putting him in line to provide direct competition to Mings who emerged as a key player during the second half of last season.
Darren Plant
