Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham all looked into the possibility of signing Pau Torres this summer, but were put off by Villarreal’s €40-45million asking price.
This is according to Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, with the reporter explaining that there was a lot of interest in Torres this summer, and that he personally views this as a great opportunity for top clubs.
Torres has impressed in La Liga down the years, but is yet to earn himself a big move, and it remains to be seen if or when he’ll end up finally being poached by one of Europe’s elite.
There’s been a lot of speculation involving the Spain international and Premier League clubs, and Romano has confirmed that a number of top sides explored this possibility in the most recent transfer window.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs were among Torres’ suitors, but it seems the asking price was the main issue.
“Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham also explored this possibility but didn’t want to spend €40-45m,” Romano said.
“I think it’s a very good opportunity on the market; he has experience, quality, left footed … a very good CB.”
Torres could have been a useful signing for Chelsea as they looked for replacements for both Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen this summer, but in the end they ended up signing Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana instead.
Spurs didn’t make a centre-back a priority this summer, with Cristian Romero’s loan move being made permanent instead, which most fans will probably be happy enough with.
Arsenal also don’t seem like they urgently need Torres given that they have William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes in fine form, while Ben White is also a solid option in that position.