Sources: Update on Aston Villa bid to sign Ferran Torres
Aston Villa are monitoring Barcelona winger Ferran Torres ahead of a potential summer move, sources have told Football Insider.
Torres, 23, may be forced out by the La Liga side at the end of the season as they look to tackle their financial worries by thinning the squad and balancing their wage bill.
The Spanish winger being placed on the market by Barcelona has alerted Villa chiefs, who are eager to back manager Unai Emery with a number of ambitious signings after their impressive end to the 2022/23 season.
Villa have climbed to eighth in the Premier League standings after a strong run of form, and Emery is urging the club’s board to provide him with more firepower and creativity in the summer if they are to compete in European competition next season.
Emery is a big admirer of Torres‘ ability and considers his availability this summer as an opportunity that is too good to turn down.
Torres spent 18 months at the Etihad Stadium and scored 16 goals and provided four assists across 43 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side.
He made a £49million move to Barcelona in January 2022 after falling out of favour at the Premier League champions, but Torres has struggled to nail down a starting spot in Xavi’s side during his time in Spain with only 17 starts to his name in 51 total appearances across all competitions in 2022/23.
Villa could be boosted in their pursuit of Torres after agreeing a deal to appoint Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany – the man responsible for bringing Torres to Camp Nou in 2021.
Football Insider sources revealed on Friday (5 May) that Villa have reached a full agreement to hire Alemany this summer.
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