Speaking on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano claimed that Manchester City are interested in Villarreal centre-back, Pau Torres, who the journalist believes would be ‘perfect’ for Pep Guardiola’s style of football.
A product of the Villarreal youth setup, Torres made his debut for the club as a 19-year-old back in 2016 and has gone on to make 49 appearances, chipping in with two goals and providing two assists along the way.
Last season, the £27 million-rated 23-year-old featured 34 times in La Liga, averaging one tackle, 0.8 interceptions and 4.4 clearances per game, as well as making on average 59.5 passes per match, culminating in an average WhoScored match rating of 6.67.
The Spain international was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast, in which Romano stated that City plan to make a move for a new centre-back next summer and that Torres is a player on their shortlist of targets, with Guardiola said to be a big fan of the defender.
He said: “Manchester City, next summer, [plan] to go for a centre-back [and] we have a new name that Manchester City are considering and are following, [so] we can add this name [to] the list for Manchester City. The name is Pau Torres from Villarreal. He’s 23, he’s a good centre-back, a good young talent, he has good quality and this is perfect for [the] Guardiola style of football.
“He’s so appreciated by Guardiola himself, because Pep is looking at Spanish football always and he knows he’s one of the most talented centre-backs in Spanish football.
“He has a release clause, [which] is around €50 million. [However, in] the last 10 days of the transfer window, the clause rises up to €65 million.”
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TIF Thoughts on Fabrizio Romano’s claim that Manchester City are interested in Pau Torres…
From Romano’s comments, it would appear the journalist is convinced that City and Guardiola are very keen on the idea of bringing Torres to Manchester next summer, as he believes that the player would be a great fit in Guardiola’s style of play.
As such, while the summer window is still a little while away just yet, this is certainly a deal we will be keeping in mind over the course of the season.