The Villans have been linked with a swoop for the Spanish forward this summer.
Aston Villa have European football to look forward to this season after Unai Emery led the club to a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League last term.
Who have Aston Villa signed this summer?
The Villans have reacted to their successful campaign by splashing the cash in the transfer market during the summer window, with three new additions so far.
Spain international Pau Torres was brought in from Villarreal for an initial £33m, £5m short of a club-record fee at the time, before winger Moussa Diaby arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for a record-breaking £51.9m.
Belgian central midfielder Youri Tielemans has also been signed on a free transfer after his contract with Leicester City, who were relegated from the top-flight, expired.
That may not be the end of their summer spending spree, though, as they are reportedly interested in signing Barcelona forward Ferran Torres.
How many goals has Ferran Torres scored in his career?
The 23-year-old whiz has scored 40 club career goals and 15 for Spain at senior international level and his ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis could make him the dream partner for Diaby this season.
Torres has already proven himself in the Premier League, thanks to a spell with Manchester City, and could hit the ground running as a lethal wing pairing alongside the France international for Villa.
The £165k-per-week dynamo, who was once lauded as “prolific” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, racked up 16 goals and four assists in 43 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side in all competitions before his move to Barcelona in 2022.
During the 2020/21 campaign, Torres produced seven goals, which is more than any Villa player outside of Ollie Watkins (15) managed last term, and two assists in 15 Premier League starts for the Cityzens. This left him within the top 8% of players in his position across the top-flight for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.48).
Since his switch to Spain, the impressive finisher has scored eight goals and created 15 ‘big chances’ for his teammates in 31 LaLiga outings for the Catalan giants, which shows that he can be a reliable scorer and creator for a wide position.
Torres could, therefore, be perfect for Diaby as the new Villa signing is an assist master who could provide the Spaniard with the opportunities he needs in front of goal to be a prolific scorer for Emery.
The former Leverkusen star managed an eye-catching 20 assists and 29 ‘big chances’ created over the last two Bundesliga campaigns combined, whilst he maintained an average of at least 1.8 key passes per match during that time.
Meanwhile, no Villa player produced more than seven assists or 1.2 chances created per outing for the club in the Premier League last season.
This suggests that Diaby will be Emery’s outstanding creative threat at the top end of the pitch this term, which is why the French wizard would be pivotal to Torres’ potential success at Villa Park.
The former Manchester City man has proven himself to be a consistent scorer when given starts, in England and Spain, and Diaby could, therefore, be the dream player to pair him with to get the best out of his finishing talents.
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