Manchester City have ‘in recent days’ started plotting a move to sign Villarreal defender Pau Torres, according to reports.

The Lowdown: Premier League attention

The 25-year-old still has just under two years remaining on his contract in La Liga, but has been linked with a move away from the Spanish giants for quite some time amid interest from the Premier League.

Tottenham, Manchester United are Chelsea are the three main names to have consistently emerged as potential suitors for the centre-back, but after a fresh update, look set to face some serious competition for his signature as the top-flight champions join the race.

The Latest: City interested in Torres

In an article published by 90min, it’s claimed that Man City, alongside Serie A side Juventus, have both ‘registered an interest’ in Torres ‘in recent days’.

The source reports that whilst Marc Cucurella remains the Sky Blues’ first-choice defensive signing, they are ‘reluctant’ to bid anything over £50m, which is the ‘minimum’ fee that Brighton would be willing to accept, and the Seagulls are believed to be offering their man a new contract to try and keep him at the Amex.

It’s stated that this setback has now led City to start ‘looking at other options’, with the Villarreal star having ‘emerged as a target’ for Pep Guardiola, who is ‘a fan’ of his compatriot.

The Verdict: No longer required?

City would seemingly be eyeing Torres as a replacement for Nathan Ake, but the Dutchman is now set to remain at the club after talks over a move to Chelsea collapsed.

The 6 foot 3 Spaniard, once praised for having a ‘fabulous’ left foot by BT Sport pundit Owen Hargreaves, is an extremely talented player, but there’s no need for the hierarchy to go out and spend big in a position that they no longer require cover for, especially after breaking the bank on Erling Haaland and Kalvin Phillips earlier in the summer.

Guardiola already has plenty of strong defensive options available to him in the likes of Ruben Dias and John Stones to name a few, and with Ake staying put, the boss should focus on putting any additional transfer funds into deals for players in more priority areas of the pitch.