Fabrizio Romano reveals Aston Villa in ‘advanced talks’ to complete statement signing of Man Utd target

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed Aston Villa are making progress in their move for a Spain international who has long been linked with Manchester United.

Unai Emery has done a brilliant job since taking over at Villa, helping them to climb up the Premier League table last season and ultimately finish in seventh place. They will compete in the Europa Conference League next term, having last played in Europe back in the 2010-11 campaign.

Villa have already started to prepare for next season by signing Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans on a free transfer from Leicester City. Tielemans had been expected to depart Leicester for a cut-price fee in January, but he instead opted to see out the remainder of his contract with the Foxes before securing a transfer as a free agent.

Tielemans will compete with the likes of John McGinn, Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara for a starting spot at Villa.

Villa are not done there though as Emery wants to improve a few more positions ahead of the new season. He is eager to land a new winger, which has led to interest in Leeds United duo Jack Harrison and Crysencio Summerville. Reports have also suggested Emery wants to sign Samuel Chukwueze from Villarreal.

Another area of his team Emery hopes to strengthen is central defence, which is where Pau Torres comes in.

On June 19, Football Insider revealed how new Villa transfer chief Monchi is hoping to make Torres his first signing.

And on Tuesday, Romano explained how Villa are ‘pushing’ to get a deal done with Torres’ current side, Villarreal. The journalist added that Bayern have viewed the Spaniard as a backup option to main target Kim Min-jae, in case he ended up going elsewhere.

Aston Villa edge closer to Pau Torres raid

However, Bayern are now proceeding with their talks for Kim, leaving Villa in the clear to capture Torres.

Writing on Twitter, Romano has now given an update on the situation. He states that discussions between Villa and the La Liga outfit are now ‘advanced’. The deal ‘is not completed yet’ but is heading towards the ‘key stages’. This suggests it will not be long before Villa and Villarreal have come to an agreement.

Romano ends his tweet by reiterating the fact Emery ‘wants him’ (Torres). This suggests the manager has been pushing Monchi to sign the 26-year-old before any other club completes a deal with Villarreal.

Man Utd supporters may watch to see how Torres gets on in the Premier League, should his Villa move reach completion. Man Utd have regularly been linked with the player amid Erik ten Hag’s search to improve his centre-back ranks.

However, Torres will instead take the next step in his career by joining Villa in all likelihood. Man Utd had also been hoping to sign Kim from Napoli, but they appear set to lose out to Bayern in that hunt.