Pau Torres has become the calm centre of Aston Villa’s season, carrying the ball out from the back, setting the tempo and, after Ezri Konsa’s move to Arsenal, taking on still more responsibility in Unai Emery’s defence.
Pau Torres gives Villa a composed presence
There was a hint of what his team-mates think of him before Villa lifted last season’s Europa League. Emiliano Martínez, speaking to a Spanish reporter, urged Spain’s manager to take Torres to the World Cup, calling the defender the best around. Torres did not make that tournament squad, but his case for an international return has continued to gather weight at Villa Park.
The 29-year-old has 24 Spain caps and one goal, having featured at the 2022 World Cup and played an important part at Euro 2020. For Emery, though, he has long been a fixture rather than a player awaiting a call-up. Last season he made 36 appearances, starting 33 of them and playing 2,964 minutes. His European record was particularly telling: 12 Europa League matches, all from the opening whistle, with Villa scoring 25 goals and conceding only four while he was on the pitch.
Signed from Villarreal for €33 million in 2023, Torres has now won the Europa League twice, having lifted it with his former club in 2021 before doing so again with Villa. The trophy and Villa’s return to the Champions League appear to have sharpened rather than satisfied him.
His latest display came in the 3-2 win at Club Brugge’s Jan Breydel Stadium. Torres made the first goal in the 11th minute, striding roughly 50 metres with the ball before releasing John McGinn. Just before half-time, having recovered possession, he sent a long pass beyond the home defence for Nico Jackson to make it 3-1. Villa had to work for the points, but their centre-half had supplied the sort of interventions usually expected from a midfielder with time on his hands.
Former West Ham striker Dean Ashton felt Torres deserved the man-of-the-match award. Ashton said the defender had been excellent at the back and praised the passes that cut through Brugge’s shape, joking that the performance had brought Franz Beckenbauer to mind. The point beneath the comparison was clear enough: Torres can step through a press and alter a match from deep.
That ability with the ball has always been his calling card. He can carry possession into midfield, find runners between lines and switch the play over distance. Since arriving in Birmingham, however, he has added a more robust edge to his game. Strength work has helped him put on muscle to go with his 192cm frame, and Villa believe he is now better equipped for the physical grind of English football.
Emery has played a central part in that development. Torres said in 2024 that he might not have made the move to Villa without the manager’s presence, describing the relationship in terms close to family. With 113 Villa appearances behind him, he is settled in the city as well as in the side; he is married and has a two-year-old daughter.
At the start of the campaign, Torres spoke of an “incredible” season ahead, with the Premier League, Champions League and domestic cups all on the schedule. He added that everyone wanted to start matches for the club, which is as close to a problem Emery would happily keep. Torres is contracted until 2028, and his immediate job is to anchor a defence reshaped by Konsa’s departure. If he continues to do that while producing nights such as Brugge, Spain may find there is little room left to ignore him.
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