Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Pau Torres to the Premier League in the January transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to Dean Jones, with the transfer insider revealing in a recent column for GIVEMESPORT that, after being heavily linked with a move for the Villarreal CF centre-back in the summer, Antonio Conte is once again keen on a move for the 25-year-old this winter.
The journalist goes on to suggest that the recent departure of Unai Emery could see the Spain international become more open to a move away from the Estadio de la Cerámica this January, while Fabio Paratici is also aware of how much the defender will cost, with recent reports citing a potential £40m fee.
In his article, Jones said: "Pau Torres remains a name of interest and his situation at Villarreal is intriguing now that Unai Emery is no longer in charge. Spurs opted for Clement Lenglet on loan ahead of pursuing Torres last summer but may look into the situation again, with the Spaniard having a release clause of £55m in his contract."
Dream signing
Considering Tottenham's extremely worrying recent record of goals conceded - with the club having shipped 10 over their last five fixtures in all competitions - coupled with how impressive Torres has been in the heart of the Villarreal defence in recent years, the argument that the Spaniard would be a dream signing for Spurs this winter is a rather easy one to make.
Indeed, over his 33 LaLiga appearances in 2021/22, the £44m-rated talent was in sensational defensive form, helping his side keep 11 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 0.6 interceptions, 1.0 tackles, 3.1 clearances and winning 4.0 duels - at a success rate of 66% - per game.
The £126k-per-week centre-back also caught the eye going forwards, scoring five goals, registering one assist and creating four big chances for his teammates, as well as completing an average of 51.4 passes - at a success rate of 86% - playing 4.2 long balls and completing 0.8 dribbles per fixture - demonstrating his ability to both play and bring the ball out from the back.
These returns saw the player who Ryan Haber dubbed a "dream" signing average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as Villarreal's joint third-best performer in the top flight of Spanish football last time out - playing a crucial role in the Yellow Submarine boasting the joint third-best defensive record in the league.
It has been a similar story for the 21-cap star over his 13 league outings in the current campaign, helping his side keep six clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 0.7 tackles, 0.2 interceptions, 4.0 clearances and winning 3.4 duels - at a success rate of 51% - per game.
These metrics have seen the left-footer who Javi Calleja labelled "extraordinary" average a very respectable SofaScore match rating of 6.98, currently ranking him as Villarreal's fifth-best performer in LaLiga.
As such, with Torres evidently being extremely solid at the back, comfortable when playing out of defence and posing a real threat in the opposition penalty area, it is easy to see why Conte would be keen on a deal to bring the Spaniard to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this winter - as the 25-year-old would indeed seem a dream signing for Spurs.