Aston Villa Pau Torres Unai Emery
(credit: Imago)
Max Wilkins
Thu 10 July 2025 7:40, UK
Pau Torres could be set for a new role at Aston Villa, moving into the new season.
The Spain international was signed from Villarreal back in 2023 and has proved to be a top signing despite his regular injury problems.
With that and a worrying lack of physicality, relying on the 28-year-old has become a concern for the Villa Park faithful, with many calling for Tyrone Mings to start more consistently.
As a result, making a signing in that area could make total sense for Unai Emery, something which could result in a tactical change, akin to what the plan was when Torres came in initially.
Aston Villa Pau Torres
Pau Torres could be set for a positional change at Aston Villa (Credit: Imago)
Torres set for position change at Aston Villa
There is no doubt that the defender has excellent ability on the ball, which makes him a useful asset when building out from the back in the Midlands.
This saw him complete over 1200 passes with a 89.3 per cent pass accuracy in the Premier League last season, with four of those being progressive per 90 [Fbref, 9 July].
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This sees him fight among the best in Europe for carrying the ball and playing out of defence, but his defensive qualities truly let him down with just 0.47 interceptions, 0.97 blocks and 0.83 aerials won per 90 minutes last campaign.
This ultimately cost the Villans on many occasions, so the signing of Yann Bisseck from Inter Milan could prove to be a transformative transfer at Villa [Gazzetta Dello Sport, 5 July, page 4].
By comparison, the Germany international is authoritative at the back with his 1.16 interceptions, 1.48 blocks and 2.52 aerial duels won per 90, a class above his counterpart at Villa Park.
This doesn’t mean that his ball-playing standards are any worse than Torres, with 4.39 progressive passes per game, comparing well to the Spaniard.
Villa fans will also be excited to see how menacing the 24-year-old is in attacking situations, with 0.92 shots per 90, ranking him in the top five per cent of all centre-backs in Europe for that metric.
It is fair to say that the ex-AGF man dwarfs the 28-year-old in the majority of stats, something which could spark a positional and tactical change from Emery.
Aston Villa Inter Milan Pau Torres Yann Bisseck
Pau Torres compared to Aston Villa target Yann Bisseck (credit: Imago)
Bisseck to transform Torres role at Aston Villa
When the defender first came in from Villarreal, it appeared that the grand design was to utilise him as a left-back alongside Ezri Konsa and Mings as a defensive pairing.
When the latter picked up his horrific injury on the opening day of the season against Newcastle United, plans were ripped up and changes were made.
Since then, Torres has solely operated in a centre-back role, but that could soon change with the addition of Inter’s German star.
Stat Pau Torres Yann Bisseck
Appearances 73 67
Goals 2 5
Assists 3 5
Pau Torres compared to Yan Bisseck
Bisseck could slide into the centre to form a back three when in possession, handing Villa more defensive structure, while also giving the right back, potentially Matty Cash, to flood forward.
This would only be a positive after such a frustrating season defensively, where Emi Martinez and Co. conceded 51 goals, the most in the top seven.
As a result, Monchi needs to look to pursue that deal and allow the coaching staff to utilise a tactical approach that was in the pipeline before the 2023/24 season.
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