Aston Villa ‘line up Pau Torres replacement’ amid Barcelona whispers
Aston Villa are working to identify potential long-term replacements for Pau Torres amid concerns about his long-term future at the club.
That is according to former Aston Villa and Man United chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider that the 28-year-old could make a return to Spanish football with Barcelona.
This comes after former Villa CEO Keith Wyness told Football Insider that Torres could push to leave Aston Villa and will be tempted by an offer from the Spanish giants.
As a result, Unai Emery‘s side are putting plans in place to identify new centre-backs, as they will only let him go if they have a ready-made replacement to step in.
Torres is still expected to remain at Villa Park this month, however, and long-term targets are being assessed in case a move materialises in the summer instead.
Aston Villa make new Pau Torres exit plan
Brown told Football Insider on 31 December that Aston Villa will not sell Torres in the mid-season window as he remains a crucial part of Emery’s plans.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment after over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, insisted that Villa have to plan for any eventuality given the speculation about Torres’ future.
“Unai Emery is a big fan of Torres,” he told Football Insider.
“In the position Aston Villa are in at the moment, they need everybody available and they cannot afford to let key players move in the middle of the season.
“The only way they could let him go would be if they had somebody lined up to come in and replace him immediately, but I think that’s unlikely.
“They’ve been working hard looking at centre-backs just in case, but it seems to me it’s a long-term thing rather than something they want to do in January.
“If they think he wants to go back to Spain at some point, maybe it’s something that could happen in the summer, but certainly not half way through the season.
“There’s been some talk of Barcelona being interested, but again I’d be very surprised if it’s something that happened in January.”
Could Aston Villa lose key players in January?
Football Insider exclusively revealed on 7 December that Aston Villa could accept offers for key players in January as they aim to bolster their transfer kitty.
Financial concerns surrounding profit and sustainability rules have limited their activity over the last couple of windows, but significant sales would allow them to spend.
Sources say the Villans must offload Jadon Sancho or Harvey Elliott back to their parent clubs or sell Ollie Watkins, should they want to bring in new arrivals at Villa Park.
However, given their plans to keep hold of the likes of Torres and Ollie Watkins, it seems unlikely that any major sales will take place in January.
After a strong run of form in recent weeks, the club may be set to benefit as Villa could boost their financial situation by up to £50million if they qualify for the Champions League.
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