Pau Torres
Torres playing for Aston Villa in 2023
Personal information
Full name Pau Francisco Torres[1]
Date of birth (1997-01-16) 16 January 1997 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth Villarreal, Spain
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 14
Youth career
2002–2016 Villarreal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2018 Villarreal B 59 (2)
2016–2023 Villarreal 136 (10)
2018–2019 → Málaga (loan) 38 (1)
2023– Aston Villa 21 (2)
International career‡
2018 Spain U21 1 (0)
2021 Spain U23 7 (0)
2019– Spain 24 (1)
Medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Football
UEFA Nations League
Runner-up 2021 Italy
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:28, 10 March 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:15, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

Pau Francisco Torres (born 16 January 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Spain national team.

He began his career with Villarreal, making 173 competitive appearances and winning the 2021 Europa League; he was also loaned to Málaga. In July 2023, he signed with Aston Villa.[3]

Torres made his full debut for Spain in 2019, scoring in his first game. He was part of the squads at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.

Club career

Villarreal

Born in Villarreal, Province of Castellón, Valencian Community,[4] Torres played youth football with Villarreal. He made his league debut with the reserves on 21 August 2016, starting in a 1–0 Segunda División B away loss against Cornellà.[5]

Torres scored his first senior goal on 8 October 2016, the first in a 2–2 home draw with Badalona.[6] His maiden competitive appearance for the first team took place on 20 December, when he came on as a late substitute for Víctor Ruiz in the 1–1 home draw against Toledo in the round of 32 of Copa del Rey;[7] by doing so, he became the first player born in Villarreal to debut for the club in 13 years.[8]

Torres played his first match in La Liga on 26 November 2017, replacing fellow youth graduate Manu Trigueros late into a 2–3 home loss to Sevilla.[9] He made his UEFA Europa League debut ten days later, starting and finishing the 0–1 group stage defeat against Maccabi Tel Aviv also at the Estadio de la Cerámica.[10]

On 6 August 2018, Torres was loaned to Málaga for one year.[11] He only missed four Segunda División games during his spell as the side reached the promotion play-offs and, subsequently, was recalled by his parent club.[12]

Torres subsequently cemented his place in Villarreal's starting XI, playing every minute in the league.[13] In October 2019, he was rewarded with a contract extension until 2024,[14] and the same month scored his first goal in the Spanish top tier, opening a 2–1 loss at Osasuna.[15]

Torres contributed nine appearances in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League as the tournament ended in a first-ever European victory for the team, under manager Unai Emery.[16] This included the final, a penalty shootout win over Manchester United after a 1–1 draw.[17]

Aston Villa

On 12 July 2023, Torres signed for Aston Villa for a reported fee of £31.5 million,[18] rejoining coach Emery.[19] He made his Premier League debut on 12 August, replacing the injured Tyrone Mings during the first half of an eventual 5–1 loss at Newcastle United.[20] He scored his first goal on 8 October, in a 1–1 away draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[21]

International career

Torres got his first call up for the Spain national team by Robert Moreno on 4 October 2019, for UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers against Norway and Sweden.[22] He did not debut until 15 November when he scored in a 7–0 rout of Malta for the already qualified hosts, within a minute of replacing Sergio Ramos; Dani Olmo also scored on his first cap in that game, the first time that two Spaniards did so in exactly 30 years.[23]

Torres was included in Luis Enrique's 24-man squad for the finals.[24] He was also selected for the Olympic team that won a silver medal at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[25]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 March 2024[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Villarreal B 2016–17 Segunda División B 34 2 — — — — 34 2
2017–18 Segunda División B 25 0 — — — 6[c] 0 31 0
Total 59 2 — — — 6 0 65 2
Villarreal 2016–17 La Liga 0 0 1 0 — 0 0 — 1 0
2017–18 La Liga 2 0 3 0 — 1[d] 0 — 6 0
2019–20 La Liga 34 2 2 0 — — — 36 2
2020–21 La Liga 33 2 2 0 — 9[d] 1 — 44 3
2021–22 La Liga 33 5 1 0 — 12[e] 1 1[f] 0 47 6
2022–23 La Liga 34 1 2 0 — 3[g] 0 — 39 1
Total 136 10 11 0 — 25 2 1 0 173 12
Málaga (loan) 2018–19 Segunda División 38 1 0 0 — — 2[h] 0 40 1
Aston Villa 2023–24 Premier League 21 2 0 0 1 0 5[g] 0 — 27 2
Career total 254 15 11 0 1 0 30 2 9 0 305 17
  1. ^ Includes Copa del Rey, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in Segunda División B promotion play-offs
  4. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. ^ Appearance in UEFA Super Cup
  7. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  8. ^ Appearances in Segunda División play-offs

International

As of match played 16 November 2023[27]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2019 1 1
2020 6 0
2021 9 0
2022 7 0
2023 1 0
Total 24 1
As of match played 15 November 2019.
Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Torres goal.[27]
List of international goals scored by Pau Torres
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 15 November 2019 Estadio Ramón de Carranza, Cádiz, Spain  Malta 3–0 7–0 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying

Honours

Villarreal

Spain U23

Spain

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Squad List: Men's Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020: Spain (ESP)" (PDF). FIFA. 22 July 2021. p. 16. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Pau Torres". Eurosport. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  3. ^ "El Villarreal confirma el traspaso de Pau al Aston Villa" [Villarreal confirm transfer of Pau to Aston Villa]. El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Pau Torres cumple 100 partidos con el Villarreal" [Pau Torres celebrates 100 matches with Villarreal] (in Spanish). Onda Cero. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  5. ^ "El Villarreal B se estrenó con derrota en Cornellà con un solitario gol encajado en el minuto 91 (1–0)" [Villarreal B had losing debut in Cornellà with lone goal against in the 91st minute (1–0)] (in Spanish). Castellón Información. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Al Villarreal B le anulan dos goles legales ante un Badalona que el empató en el minuto 94 (2–2)" [Villarreal B have two legal goals disallowed against a Badalona who drew in the 94th minute (2–2)] (in Spanish). Castellón Información. 9 October 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. ^ Matilla, Alfredo (20 December 2016). "Pato evita la sorpresa del Toledo y Manolo, la goleada" [Pato avoids Toledo's surprise and Manolo, a rout]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Pau Torres, primer futbolista nacido en Vila-real que debuta en 13 años" [Pau Torres, first footballer born in Villarreal to debut in 13 years]. Sport (in Spanish). 22 December 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  9. ^ "El Sevilla remonta dos goles y se lleva la victoria de Villarreal" [Sevilla come back from two goals and take win from Villarreal] (in Spanish). RTVE. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  10. ^ "El Villarreal cierra con derrota un partido intrascendente" [Villarreal complete formality of a match with loss]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 7 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  11. ^ Puga, Manu (8 August 2018). "Pau Torres: "La oferta del Málaga CF era irrechazable"" [Pau Torres: "Málaga CF's offer could not be refused"]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Pau Torres volverá al Villarreal" [Pau Torres will return to Villarreal]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish). 5 June 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Pau Torres, entre los once que han disputado todos los minutos en Liga" [Pau Torres, amongst eleven who have played every minute in League]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  14. ^ "El Villarreal CF renueva a Pau hasta 2024" [Villarreal CF renew Pau until 2024] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  15. ^ McTear, Euan (5 October 2019). "Villarreal are the latest to suffer at El Sadar". Marca. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. ^ Mata, Javier (31 May 2022). "Pau Torres alcanza los 159 partidos en tres temporadas" [Pau Torres reaches 159 games in three seasons]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  17. ^ Grounds, Ben (27 May 2021). "Villarreal 1–1 Man Utd AET (11–10 pens): David de Gea misses crucial spot-kick as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side suffer Europa League final shootout defeat". Sky Sports. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Aston Villa complete Pau Torres signing from Villarreal". BBC Sport. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  19. ^ "Villa announce Pau Torres signing". Aston Villa F.C. 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  20. ^ Yew, Oliver (12 August 2023). "Newcastle 5–1 Aston Villa: Alexander Isak scores twice as Eddie Howe's side produce statement win". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  21. ^ Jackson, Bobbie (8 October 2023). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–1 Aston Villa: Fiery West Midlands derby ends all square". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  22. ^ Díaz, José Félix; Clancy, Conor (4 October 2019). "Reguilon, Pau Torres and Gerard Moreno named in Spain squad for first time". Marca. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  23. ^ "Dani Olmo and Pau Torres make history in Spain stroll". Diario AS. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  24. ^ Braidwood, Jamie (24 May 2021). "Euro 2020 news LIVE: Sergio Ramos left out of Spain squad plus latest before England announcement". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  25. ^ "Spain names six from Euro squad to Olympic roster". Sports Illustrated. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  26. ^ Pau Torres at Soccerway
  27. ^ a b "Pau Torres". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  28. ^ Stone, Simon (26 May 2021). "Villarreal 1–1 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Tokyo Olympics 2021 medal count updates: who has won more? Tally by country, today, 7 August". Diario AS. 7 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Spain 1–2 France". UEFA. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  31. ^ "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season 2020/21". UEFA. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pau Torres.
Aston Villa F.C. – current squad
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