Spanish centre back could change mind about Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham have shown continued interest in Spanish centre back Pau Torres, who decided to remain at Villarreal after the north London club’s summer advances. 

Torres is a sizzling commodity. And he’s a centre back, so naturally Tottenham want him, so much so that Spurs submitted a supercharged bid for the 24-year-old in the summer, offering Villarreal £50 million to lure him to north London.

Sweetening the deal further, Tottenham offered Torres about three times his current salary (currently £63,000 per week according to Salary Sport). That would put him in the top tier of Tottenham earners, maybe even the highest of them all.

But Torres was decisive in staying with his boyhood club, who he’s been with since he was barely old enough to pull off a robana, just four years old. That might be a slight exaggeration, as he probably had to wait until he was six to execute that level of trickery. How far centre backs have come.

The reason for staying was simple. Villarreal qualified for the Champions League, the pinnacle of all club competitions. And for Torres, participating in the illustrious tournament with his boyhood team was a proposition too persuasive to turn down.

So Spurs instead opted to purchase Cristian Romero, who shows real promise of becoming one of the world’s best marshals. But wouldn’t it be nice if Torres joined the Argentinian in north London?

Torres may still change his mind about playing for Spurs, but like so many other recent rumours, this has no chance of happening until the summer. While Villareal is reeling in eighth place in La Liga, they are still alive in the Champions League, poised to battle Juventus in the first knockout phase.

Suffice to say, Torres is not going anywhere until season’s end. The 6’3” centre back’s contract doesn’t end until 2024, but can still be convinced to join Spurs. The purported staggering salary, which is hard to conceive of considering Daniel Levy’s miserly wage structure, alone will turn his head. And a Champions League berth would strengthen considerably Spurs’ summer proposition.

But until Tottenham take concrete, tangible strides in the transfer market (by actually signing a player or two), this potential deal seems as far away as Tottenham’s inclusion in the Champions League.