Villarreal defender joins Premier League club

26-year-ole Spanish defender Pau Torres has left the Estadio De La Ceramica to reunite with his former boss at the La Liga club Unai Emery in the Premier League in a deal worth around £30M.

Torrwsa enjoyed a great time under Unai Emery’s leadership at Villarreal between 2020 and 2023 before the former Arsenal manager moved to the Premier League with Aston Villa.

He led Aston Villa to their first European campaign in over 20 decades when he helped and finished in the top seven spots in the Premier League last season, qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League next season. Since then, the Villane have been improving their squad ahead of the next campaign.

Pau Torres becomes their second signing of the summer after Youri Tielemans, who joined in from relegated Leicester City on a free transfer after the Foxes got relegated last season.

The defender started his career with the Yellow Submarine’s youth team in 2003; he made his senior team debut in 2016 and has played 173 games for them and scored 12 times.

Last season, he helped the Yellow Submarine finish fifth in La Liga, playing 34 times in the top flight as they qualified for UEFA Europa League. For the Spanish national team, Torres had his debut in 2019 and played at Euro 2020 and 2022 FIFA World Cup.

In total, he played 23 times for Spain, and with his debut for Villarreal in 2016, he became the first player born in the small Valencian town to debut for the club in 13 years. He won the 2021 Europa League under Emery playing a key part as he was among the scorers in the penalty shootout victory over Manchester United.

Torres joining the team comes just days after Ashley Young departed as a free agent to join Everton.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu