Reports: Manchester United make contact with £45m-rated La Liga star Pau Torres' agents

Manchester United have reportedly made contact with the agents of Villarreal central defender Pau Torres, according to the Express. The 23-year-old has a €50 million release clause in his contract (£44.7 million) with Barcelona and Manchester City also linked with a move for the defender.

Manchester United are reportedly in the market for a left-footed central defender to partner Harry Maguire. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side has been susceptible to fast counter-attacks due to the lack of pace in the defensive duo of Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire. Torres might be the perfect defender to play alongside Maguire, as he clocked the fastest speed of any defender in La Liga this season.

Fabrizio’s interview not too negative at all actually. He made it sound like United are obsessed with Sancho, that’s why I’m convinced the board don’t even consider alternatives (the brief on them are false smoke imo) and Pau Torres And Grealish being looked at next. #mufc

— Hesham Bilal-Hafiz (@hesham786) August 13, 2020

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Manchester United interested in Pau Torres

Pau Torres has been a revelation for Villarreal since returning from his loan spell at Malaga in the 2018-19 campaign. The 23-year-old played 34 games in the La Liga season, impressing with his distribution and leadership abilities at the back.

Pau Torres of Villarreal CF

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has changed the look of Manchester United's defence since arriving at the club, integrating the likes of Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams. Victor Lindelöf has also been consistent for the Norwegian, and was given the opportunity to partner captain Maguire for a majority of the season.

Manchester United will be looking to part ways with the likes of Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling during the current window with two of the three spending time out on loan last season. Chris Smalling has attracted interest from a host of Italian clubs after his impressive performances for Roma in the Serie A.

61': Pau Torres comes on for his debut*one minute later*Pau Torres scores on his debut66': Dani Olmo comes on for his debut*three minutes later*Dani Olmo scores on his debut pic.twitter.com/0y8KczVqkI

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) November 15, 2019

Phil Jones, on the other hand, has attracted attention from West Ham United. Marcos Rojo spent second half of last season on loan at Estudiantes de La Plata, but looks set to return to Old Trafford ahead of next season.

Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe, who are back up options for Solskjaer, have spent the majority of the season on the treatment table. Highly-rated defender Teden Mengi, who made his debut in the Europa League is earmarked for the future.

Speaking on Torres, football journalist Fabrizio Romano said;

"He's an opportunity, they (Manchester United) are considering him but it's nothing advanced at the moment. They are considering him, they obviously have a list on the transfer market so they take info, they speak with the agents so that's the situation with Pau Torres."