The newly-appointed president of football operations at Aston Villa, Monchi, is set to make a sizeable instant impression at the club by sealing a club-record signing of one of Spanish football’s most respected talents.
Villa concluded negotiations to bring in Monchi over the weekend, with the 54-year-old taking on the rather fancy job-title moniker in the process. In charge of all of Villa’s transfer recruitment, Monchi’s appointment by the Midlanders is seen as a real coup.
Indeed, under his guidance, previous club Sevilla claimed an incredible seven Europa League titles. The most recent of these came just 19 days ago as they overcame Jose Mourinho’s Roma 4-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
And three of those titles (2014, 2015 and 2016) came under Unai Emery. Now it is hoped the two men can resume their successful partnership at Villa Park.
If the first seven months of Emery’s reign are to go by, the signs are good. The Spaniard led the club from the lower reaches of the table to an eighth-placed finish. With that, the club sealed a return to European football for the first time in 13 years.
Now plans are underway to take Villa on to the next level. And Monchi looks to have kickstarted the process by releasing eight players at Villa Park. At the same time, Villa are also strongly being linked with a tasty raid on Leeds United.
However, it seems the first man through the door will be Villarreal defender Pau Torres.
The 26-year-old is regarded as one of Spanish football’s top performers.
Capped 23 times by La Roja, he has proved an absolute rock at the heart of the Villarreal defence.
Helping his hometown club win the Europa League in 2021, his impressive form has seen speculation linking him with several lucrative moves. Indeed, he was close to signing for Manchester United that summer, before they instead moved for Raphael Varane.
Since then, the likes of Juventus and Tottenham have both been linked.
However, this summer speculation has risen over a potential move to Villa.
And now according to Football Insider, there is a growing belief that a deal for Torres can soon be done.
They report a club-record deal worth £40m is in the works between the two clubs. The central defender has just a year left on his deal. And, with the player refusing to sign an extension, the Yellow Submarine are looking to cash in.
Now Villa have shown their hand with talks underway over the deal.
Villa do hope to sign Torres for a portion less than Villarreal’s asking price. However, a £40m deal would represent a new Villa club record fee if Villarreal stick by that valuation.
Monchi sees Torres as Tyrone Mings replacement
The capture of Torres will likely mean Tyrone Mings losing his place as a Villa regular.
The England defender has made 165 appearances for the club during his five seasons at Villa Park. He was meant to be usurped last season after the club paid big money to sign Diego Carlos from Sevilla.
A serious injury though to the Brazilian meant Mings was able to still feature in 37 games.
However, Mings is still seemingly seen as a weak link in the Villa side with Torres the perfect upgrade. He has played under Emery before, with the Villa boss leading the LaLiga side to Europa League glory and the Champions League semi-finals the following season.
Speaking about the player previously, Emery hailed Torres as an “amazing player” and said he has “never seen a centre-back like Torres”.
Now the pair look set to rekindle that relationship at Villa Park with his signing seen as a notable first coup for Monchi.
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