Aston Villa’s move for Villarreal defender Pau Torres is ‘by no means closed’ and negotiations are still ongoing to make it happen.
That’s according to Estadio Deportivo, who cover comments from Villarreal CEO Fernando Roig, who has today spoken publicly on the potential transfer.
Torres has been linked with a move to Villa for the past few weeks, with it widely reported in England and Spain that a deal had been agreed between the two clubs so the player could reunite with manager Unai Emery.
It had been taken for granted that the move would happen and was pretty much completed but Estadio insist that isn’t the case today.
They say that while the assumption was that the deal was a foregone conclusion, ‘it is far from it’. Even though the exact price of the operation has been discussed, as well as Villarreal’s replacement, the club’s president Fernando Roig has ‘put the brakes’ on that.
He has gone out of his way today to insist that the Villarreal defender ‘has not been sold’ and that negotiations between the Spanish side and Aston Villa are ‘by no means closed’.
As far as he is concerned, as long as negotiations are not closed, it is unwise to suggest that the operation is done.
He had no problem acknowledging that there are ‘open negotiations to close the operation’ with Aston Villa, though.
“The idea is, as always, to have a better team than last year,” he said.
“I think the CEO is doing a very good job reaching agreements from three parties: a club that wants to buy, a player that wants to leave and an offer that it satisfies us. The market situation is good and I’m happy.”
