English Premier League champions Manchester City and Italian Serie A giants Juventus have joined the race to sign Villarreal defender Pau Torres.
The 25-year-old has been heavily linked with a move away from the Spanish club since 2021 summer and Manchester United was very interested in him. However, Man United decided to sign Real Madrid’s defender Raphael Varane last season instead of Pau Torres but ended up showing interest in him this summer again.
Fortunately for the clubs pursuing Torres’ signature, United are now interested in signing Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez and could finalize his transfer sooner than later, meaning that they are out of the race for the Villarreal defender.
Tottenham Hotspur also had talks with Pau Torres agent this summer but have switched their attention to Barcelona’s Clement Lenglet for a loan deal.
Chelsea had him on their radar but decided to stop the negotiations as they look set to sign Nathan Ake from Manchester City and Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli.
Admiration for Torres has not dampened though, as new reports have it that only Manchester City and Juventus are now interested in signing the defender this summer.
Manchester City are currently looking for a replacement for their defender Nathan Ake who’s set to join Chelsea this summer and they have identified Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella as their primary target to replace him.
Man City and Juventus register interest in Pau Torres https://t.co/bvrpqxwmM8
— All football play (@breaking_9) July 13, 2022
The Cityzens still need Marc Cucurella but are reluctant to bid more than £50 million, which is the minimum price Brighton would accept.
Brighton are also ready to offer Marc Cucurella a new contract if he doesn’t leave them this summer. The £50 million price tag has made Manchester City to start looking for another option and Pau Torres is the next player on Pep Guardiola’s list, who is a fan of his compatriot.
Manchester City will now have to battle it out with Italian giants Juventus for the signature of Pau Torres. Juventus want to use him as a potential replacement for Matthijs de Ligt, who is expected to sign with Bayern Munich this summer.
Kalidou Koulibaly was pursued by Juventus, but Chelsea ultimately won in their pursuit of the Senegalese star after Chelsea failed to land De Ligt.
Juve are currently investigating Torres’ background and may submit a serious offer soon. With two years left on Torres’ current contract, sources have indicated that Villarreal are concerned about losing him this summer.
Last week, club president Fernando Roig admitted to the local press that he was not certain what the future holds for the player which means that he might leave them this summer.
Manchester City have already lost two senor players this summer, as Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus moved to Chelsea and Arsenal. The Cityzens have also replaced the two forwards with the signings of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund and Alvarez from River Plate. Barcelona are also interested in signing Man City’s Bernardo Silva but no official offer has been submitted yet.
