On a recent episode of Fabrizio Romano's 'Here We Go' podcast, the Italian journalist revealed that should Manchester City be keen on signing a new centre-back, they could target Villarreal defender Pau Torres.

The 23-year-old defender has also attracted interest from Manchester United recently and it seems as if his time with Unai Emery's side could soon be coming to an end, but the Citizens arguably don't need to sign him.

Torres reportedly has a release clause of €50 million (£45.06 million), so it would be an expensive deal for director of football Txiki Begiristain if he wanted to bring him in.

The Citizens already signed both Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake for big money during the summer transfer window, so they are not exactly short of defensive options.

Whilst John Stones might have been the man axed in order to accommodate a new centre-back such as Torres, the Englishman's recent performances have demonstrated that he is more than capable as a starter in Guardiola's side.

Signing the Spanish defender would, of course, add to the quality of squad depth at Manchester City which is never a bad thing but considering the impressive performances from City's defence of late, which has seen them keep six clean sheets in their last eight games, they really don't need to splash the cash on Torres in January or next summer.

In addition to this, Torres has no experience in the Premier League and has just 55 senior appearances to his name at Villarreal, so he could hardly be considered experienced and would therefore likely be signed as a player for the future, which could harm the development of young defenders such as Eric Garcia and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

Torres' performances in La Liga this season have seen him average a sold 6.78 rating, which is significantly less than the impressive 7.25 rating Stones has managed thus far.

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Therefore, City should keep faith in the options they already have and potentially save themselves £45 million on Torres.

And, in other news... Manchester City missed out on a big talent in 2018, touted to be one of the best in the world