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.

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)
2018–2019Málaga (loan) 38 (1)
2023– Aston Villa 40 (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 23:14, 9 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:15, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

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

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Villarreal

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Torres with Villarreal in 2021

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

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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

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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

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Club

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As of match played 9 November 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 29 2 0 0 1 0 9[g] 0 39 2
2024–25 Premier League 11 0 0 0 0 0 4[e] 0 15 0
Total 40 2 0 0 1 0 13 0 54 2
Career total 273 15 11 0 1 0 38 2 9 0 332 17
  1. ^ Includes Copa del Rey, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearances in Segunda División B promotion play-offs
  4. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b 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

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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

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Villarreal

Spain U23

Spain

Individual

References

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  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. Archived from the original on 20 December 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.
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