Pau Torres aiming to fire Aston Villa to more Euro campaigns

The £35million man joined the Unai Emery revolution at Villa Park on Wednesday having formerly worked with the boss at Villareal.

The pair won the Europa League together with the Spanish club in 2021 and Torres is eager to continue that success having linked up with Villa.

The claret and blues will find out early next month who they will play in the Europa Conference League and European competition is a big draw for the defender.

“Luckily, practically every year of my short career up until now, I have had the opportunity with Villarreal to play in European competitions year after year and it’s something that I want to keep fighting for,” said the 6ft 3ins centre-half.

“And if my football ability helps the team position itself as high as possible and that year after year we can play in European competitions, I think that’s going to be the challenge of the squad this year, so I’m really looking forward to doing it here in England.”

The 26-year-old revealed he had spoken to countryman Alex Moreno ahead of the move to gauge his opinions of life at Villa Park, and believes that relationship can help him adapt to life in English football.

He added: “Alex Moreno, I have had the opportunity to speak with him beforehand, before coming here. Also to ask him a little bit around how the club was from within, how his experience was, especially those first few days and I also think that having him in the dressing room is going to make my adaptation easier.”

Torres is excited by the challenge of helping the Villans’ quest to cement further European football, describing his move as “a decisive step” in his career.

“I’m very happy. I think it’s been a decisive step and step forward in my career,” he said.

“It’s a step that I was ready to take and I’m really happy to arrive at Aston Villa, I think it’s a perfect opportunity for me and I want to make the most of it.

“When the boss arrived, the team was fighting in a different set of circumstances in the league and they finished by qualifying for Europe. I think that was a big step for the club and this shows that they have the ambition to improve year after year, and this year, I hope we can position ourselves higher up in the table.”