--- source: thedugout.football generated: 2026-07-27T21:31:44.531Z last_updated: 2026-07-27T10:41:47+00:00 data_provider: API-Football canonical: https://thedugout.football/clubs/aston-villa/news/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmlybWluZ2hhbW1haWwuY28udWsvc3BvcnQvZm9vdGJhbGwvdHJhbnNmZXItbmV3cy9hc3Rvbi12aWxsYS1vcHRpb25zLWV4cGxhaW5lZC1kZWZlbmRlci0zNDM1Nzc0OQ --- # Aston Villa options explained as defender reveals transfer exit plan - **Source:** - **Published:** 27 Jul - **Club:** Aston Villa - **Original URL:** https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/aston-villa-options-explained-defender-34357749 Pau Torres' plan is to leave Aston Villa on a free transfer in the summer of 2028 and return to his hometown club, Villarreal. The Spanish centre-back has had no qualms about communicating that to the media, having spoken openly about his intentions in two interviews with Spanish outlets. The latest came on the La Otra Grada podcast, where he revealed that he wants to see out his Aston Villa contract before returning to Villarreal as a free agent so his boyhood club does not have to pay a transfer fee. He said: "If nothing goes wrong along the way, I think I’ll see out the two years remaining on my contract, and that will mark the end of my time at Aston Villa. What I’d like is for Villarreal not to have to pay anything for me. For me to join as a free agent. It’s the club of my life and I don’t want them to spend money on signing me." On Claret & Blue, Dan Rolinson and John Townley spoke about Torres’ comments. You can read the transcript below or watch the episode here. “I mean, the way I look at this is pretty simple, and to try and give some context to us as Villa fans: Pau is from, obviously, Villarreal. That's his club, those are his people, that's his place,” Townley started. “Villarreal are probably... well, they are like a step below Villa, or maybe even two steps, I don't know, without being disrespectful, in terms of size and tradition, right? So if you put a scale above and put us at, I don't know, Barcelona or something, and you're playing for Barcelona as a Villa fan and you want to end your career at Villa... well, you would try and leave on a free because you know that you can just select that club to go to. “You don't want to make it hard for them to buy you. So, if you put yourselves in that position... yeah, if you're at a bigger club than Villa, and that does exist - you know, not many of them, but there's some - and you want to end your career at Villa because it's everything that you love, then you would do what Pau is planning to do as well. “Obviously, it's not completely up to him. The club can, you know, do some things, but at the same time, like, he's under contract. I don't think it's anything that would end, you know, on a sour note or anything. “Pau's not getting any younger, and that's what he wants to do, so I'm sure Villa will honour that. He's played a key role for us under Emery, and hopefully, he can continue to play a key role in the next two years. I think he's got two years left. So, yeah.” “Are we in such dire straits financially that we can allow that, or do you accept a smaller transfer fee and get rid of him now? There's no value in that, for me, though. And if he wants to specifically go to Villarreal and they don't want to pay £25 million, for argument's sake, then, yeah, you're going to have to just do that. But I want to keep him anyway. This is a non-starter for me, regardless. Townley then continued: “In two years, we may change our minds. They may think, actually, he's lost all of his pace, or he's now... what would he be, like 31 maybe? I'm not too sure. I think he... I think he's 29. No, but you know what I mean, like he's not going to get any... I don't think he's going to get fitter or... I mean, that is true. “He should be a player who is able to play into his mid-30s at a good level because, as you say, Dan, he's not reliant on physicality. But at the same time, you know, you're not going to get any better, I don't think, with your age going into 32, 33. “But the point I was going to make was that, okay, if Villa do want to extract value from him next summer, for example, but he knows he wants to go to Villarreal, so Bayer Leverkusen come in for him, for argument's sake, Pau will just reject the move because he doesn't want to go there. He wants to go to Villarreal. “So the only way that you could take money out of him, if he is genuinely set on Villarreal after Villa, is by going back there. Then you would have to hope that next summer you could make an agreement with Villarreal and say, 'Look, do you want to take him now for a fee'? Or, again, that's only if Villa want to do that. You can follow our dedicated reporter John Townley on X by clicking here - he follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. You'll also get competition offers and stories around discounts on Villa merchandise. WhatsApp: You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club.If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here. Social: We have a Facebook page waiting for you with daily updates, some of which we don't post anywhere else - click here You can also folllow our Villa updates on X - here Podcast: Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here, while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here.