Aston Villa interested in Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte

Aston Villa have held talks over potential deals to sign Spanish defenders Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte this summer, 90min understands.

The Villans enjoyed a hugely successful 2022/23 campaign under new manager Unai Emery, securing a place in next season’s UEFA Europa Conference League.

With European football secured and strong financial backing behind them, Villa have ambitious plans in the works for this summer’s transfer window. They recently targeted Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio, who is leaving the club on a free transfer, but ultimately lost out to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.

They are also keen to strengthen in central defence and sources have confirmed to 90min that Villarreal’s Torres and Manchester City’s Laporte are two names on their summer shopping list.

Emery has previously worked with Torres at Villarreal, winning a Europa League title together during the former’s time in charge, while Laporte has enjoyed extensive success with reigning Premier League champions Manchester City over the past five years.

90min understands that Villarreal have accepted that Torres is likely to leave the club this summer, and the 26-year-old does have a release clause worth around €50m in his contract.

As for Laporte, he’s found regular minutes hard to come by under Pep Guardiola this season, instead watching on as a combination of John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake have partnered Ruben Dias in central defence.

The Cityzens have also switched to a fluid defensive system that sees Ake drift out to left-back and Stones into a defensive midfield role, further limiting the opportunities for Laporte to play.

It’s 90min’s understanding that the Spaniard is looking to leave in order to play regular first team football, and that could be on offer not only at Villa but also at Tottenham. The Lilywhites are in the market for a new centre-back this summer having finally secured Ange Postecoglou as their head coach on a four-year contract.

Laporte could be available for around £40m, having become City’s record signing in January 2018 when he arrived from Athletic Club for a fee of £57m – his contractual release clause at the time.