Pete O'Rourke has dropped an update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Pau Torres.
What's the talk?
In a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT, the transfer insider revealed that, despite Fabio Paratici recently completing the signing of Barcelona's Clement Lenglet on a season-long loan, Spurs could yet pursue a deal for the Villarreal defender this summer - for whom the LaLiga side are reported to be demanding a figure of around £45m.
The journalist went on to state that, although Manchester United are also reported to be in the running for the 25-year-old's signature, with Antonio Conte being able to offer the Spain international Champions League football next season, it is likely that Tottenham would have the upper hand on Erik ten Hag's side in the race for Torres.
Regarding Spurs' interest in the 19-cap international, O'Rourke said: "I think it would be fair to say that Spurs will be the frontrunners if it came down to the two clubs to sign Pau Torres. Champions League football will be a big carrot for the Spain international to bring him to England.
"Also, if Manchester United were to sign Lisandro Martinez, that means maybe Pau Torres is not at the top of their agenda right now either. If Tottenham were to move for Pau Torres, I think they would be pretty confident that they might be able to get a deal done."
A massive coup
Considering just how impressive a talent Torres undoubtedly is, in addition to the fact that Manchester United are also believed to be in the running for the Spaniard this summer, should Paratici manage to get a deal for the 25-year-old over the line this summer, it would certainly represent a massive coup for Tottenham.
Indeed, over his 33 LaLiga appearances last season, the £60m-rated centre-back was in imperious form, helping Unai Emery's 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 fixture.
[snack-amp-story url= "https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-much-more" title= "Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!"]
The £126k-per-week defender also posed a threat going forwards, scoring five goals, providing one assist and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as completing an average of 51.4 passes, 4.2 long balls, 0.8 dribbles and taking 0.7 shots per game.
These metrics 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.
The Yellow Submarines' star also played a crucial role in his club's run to the semi-final of the Champions League in 2021/22, helping his side keep three clean sheets, scoring one goal and creating two big chances, in addition to making an average of 1.3 tackles, 0.8 interceptions, 5.2 clearances and winning 3.0 duels - at a success rate of 67% - over his 12 outings in the competition.
These returns saw the Spaniard average a SofaScore match rating of 7.00, ranking him as Villarreal's fourth-best player in Europe's most prestigious club competition.
As such, with Conte clearly looking to make Spurs competitive in both the Premier League and in Europe next season with his transfer business this summer, it is clear to see that the signing of Torres would be a remarkable piece of business for Paratici to get over the line - leading us to believe that O'Rourke's update is fantastic news for everyone involved with the club.
AND in other news: Paratici could land "unreal" Spurs signing after talks for "ingenious" £60m target