Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly been in contact with Villarreal over a potential deal to sign defender Pau Torres.

What's the talk?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Ryan Taylor had his to say on the matter.

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He stated: "Torres has been the subject of initial swap-deal discussions with Villarreal because obviously, they want to sign [Giovani] Lo Celso on a permanent basis. Torres is left-footed and can play in a back-three as well."

A product of Villarreal's youth system, the 25-year-old has gone on to make 201 appearances for the club across their senior and youth teams, chipping in with 13 goals and five assists along the way.

Conte will be buzzing

His latest La Liga campaign saw the centre-back rack up more minutes than any other outfield player at Villarreal, showing just how highly he is rated at the club. In his 33 league appearances last term, Torres ended up winning 14 tackles in addition to making 44 interceptions and 43 blocks, also racking up the second-highest number of clearances (120) in the squad.

Alongside his clear defensive talent, the Spaniard has shown how impressive he is on the ball by completing a total of 1,715 passes last season, the second-highest at the club.

Indeed, during his younger years, Torres was described as having an "extraordinary talent to construct the play", according to former Villarreal midfielder and coach Javi Calleja.

Taking all this into account, it's easy to see how the centre-back could be a great asset for Antonio Conte at the north London club, especially considering Taylor's point about the player's versatility in defence.

With a reported release clause of £55m, if the Lilywhites can work out a deal with Villarreal this summer which would see them sign Torres and get rid of Lo Celso for good, this could be a perfect deal for all parties, and it would surely have the Spurs boss buzzing.

Having already secured deals for Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Yves Bissouma, if the north London club can seal Torres' signature and offload the underperforming Lo Celso at the same time, this would definitely add to what has already been a productive summer transfer window at N17.

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