How Man Utd’s Pau Torres bid collapsed
FT Desk
- Updated: 27 Sept 2022 11:58 BST
- 3 min read
Manchester United’s summer move for Pau Torres collapsed when manager Erik ten Hag insisted on signing Lisandro Martinez instead, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Man Utd had made the signing of a centre back one of their main priorities in the past summer market.
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Initially, Villarreal star Torres had been their first option to fill this position and they began negotiations for him.
However, new Man Utd manager Ten Hag then insisted on signing his former Ajax defender Martinez instead.
What did Romano say about Pau Torres?
“Pau Torres was on Manchester United’s list but then the option collapsed as Erik ten Hag wanted Lisandro Martinez as the priority in that position,” Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column.
“Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham also explored this possibility but didn’t want to spend €40-45m. Still, I think it’s a very good opportunity on the market; he has experience, quality, left footed … a very good centre back.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I’d like to see what he could do in the Premier League.”
The 25-year-old Torres joined Villarreal as a child in 2002 and has been with his boyhood club for his whole career, having made his senior debut in 2017.
Since then, he has featured in 142 matches, and even spent a season on loan in the second division with Malaga in 2018-19.
Torres made his debut for the Spain national team in 2019 and has been a mainstay in the team under Luis Enrique, being a part of the squad that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
Ten Hag’s decision to sign Martinez has paid off so far as the Argentine has been one of the best summer buys in the Premier League in 2022-23.
Martinez has relegated Harry Maguire to the bench in order to partner Raphael Varane at the centre of defence.
