By Wayne Veysey

7th May, 2022 | 9:19am

Sources: Tottenham confident Pau Torres signing can be sealed at £10m below asking price

Tottenham have been given encouragement that Villarreal could sell Pau Torres at up to £10million below his asking price this summer, Football Insider understands.

This site revealed last month that the Londoners are keeping tabs on the Spain international defender going into the summer window.

Spurs are prioritising the capture of a centre-back who could slot into Antonio Conte’s three-man defence.

A recruitment source has told Football Insider that Villarreal are expecting to cash in on Torres as he enters the final two years of his contract this summer.

He has a £55million release clause in his contract, which could prohibitive for suitors including Spurs.

Given the Spanish club’s need to raise cash, there is growing “confidence” at Tottenham, the source explained, that Torres could be signed for around the £45m mark.

The centre-back is a long-time target and he was the subject of strong interest from the Premier League outfit last summer before he opted to stay in Spain.

That decision has proved vindicated given the key role he played in Villarreal’s surprise run to the Champions League semi-finals, which ended with defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday night.

Conte has implemented his favoured 3-4-2-1 system at Spurs, with Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, and Ben Davies currently first choice at the heart of the defence.

The Italian manager is looking to strengthen his back line this summer after signing a central midfielder and wide forward in January.

In other news, Oliver Skipp’s treatment has failed amid crushing Tottenham surgery update.