Aston Villa aren’t giving up hope just yet in their pursuit to sign Ferran Torres, as new revelations claim the Villans could strike late to score the Spaniard.
Unai Emery and Monchi are planning to take the Midlands club to the next level, as highlighted by their rumoured targets this summer.
With a reported £150m in the bank and European football confirmed, may now be the prime time for the Spanish duo to seek star names to adorn the claret and blue ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
Could Aston Villa sign Ferran Torres?
Late last month, reports in Spain claimed that Villa could seek a loan move for Ferran Torres with an option to buy, as Barcelona face critical financial woes that could see them offload talent in abundance.
However, news this week via transfer insider Dean Jones explained that Villa could present an offer to the Catalan giants later this window in the bid to secure the 23-year-old.
Talking to Football FanCast, Jones said:
"I think the Ferran Torres one could still become interesting. He obviously doesn't want to leave Barcelona, and it seems like he's made that pretty clear. But the deeper we get into this transfer window, the more I wonder if he might actually end up leaving.
I mean, if we get to a situation whereby the season in Spain begins in August, and he's not in the picture, and you get him towards the back end of the transfer window. I wonder if that's when Villa might be able to activate a deal like that."
Valued by FootballTransfers at €40m (£34m), Monchi could pull off a marquee deal for the Spaniard if a loan deal with a reported €25m (£21.5m) option to buy is struck.
How good is Ferran Torres?
Hailed as “prolific” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, the 23-year-old could arrive at Villa Park already equipped with Premier League experience, after making 28 league appearances for Manchester City.
In that time, the Foios-born whiz secured two Premier League medals, as well as winning the Carabao Cup with the Citizens in a trophy-laden spell in Manchester.
The one thing that was missing from his time under Pep Guardiola was consistent game time, making just 15 starts in his first season at the Etihad where he averaged a goal every 186 minutes.
Scoring seven and assisting three in his first term in England was an impressive feat, however, with the talent on show at City, the timing wasn’t right for the Spaniard to exercise and develop his talents.
Similar has happened at Barcelona, where the 23-year-old started just 14 La Liga games due to competition in the squad, however patterns have also continued in his scoring, averaging 0.39 non-penalty goals per 90 over the past year, via FBref.
His numbers with reference to his playing minutes show for pleasant viewing, and indicate the calibre of player Emery could sign this summer, with him being statistically similar to a Premier League star.
As per FBref, Torres is comparable to Manchester United's Player of the Year Marcus Rashford, who scored 17 goals in the league last season.
In the Premier League, the Englishman averaged an impressive 3.38 total shots per 90, as well as recording 1.69 successful take-ons per 90 to express his devastating quality in the final third.
Similar numbers were hit by Torres in La Liga last campaign, who averaged 2.39 total shots and 1.94 successful take-ons per 90, as well as averaging 0.27 xAG (expected assisted goals) to Rashfords 0.11 per 90, via FBref.
An area of his game that could be beneficial to Emery’s side’s progressive approach is his positioning to receive a pass to turn into a threat, with the Spaniard averaging a huge 11.64 progressive passes received, in comparison to Rashford’s 7.66 per 90.
If given sufficient game time and a licence to develop, Villa could have a leading young talent in Europe in Torres, should a deal be struck this summer.