Man City now plotting move for "tremendous" £43m gem, he's Guardiola's dream player - opinion

Manchester City currently boast the best defensive record in the Premier League this season, having conceded just 21 goals in 34 games.

The Manchester club’s four main senior centre-backs of John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte have all played a part in this impressive feat throughout this campaign.

While the Citizens still have a handful of massive games ahead of them that could see Pep Guardiola’s side end the season potentially with the Premier League and Champions League, it seems as though the club already have their eye on the upcoming summer transfer window.

According to journalist and transfer insider Fabrizio Romano in his latest podcast (via City Xtra), City are scouting Villarreal defender Pau Torres, who apparently has a €55m – €60m (£46.3m – £50.5m) release clause in his current contract.

It has also been reported in the past that the La Liga club would look for a fee of £43m to sell their defensive gem.

As a product of Villarreal’s youth system, the centre-back has gone on to make a total of 129 senior appearances for the Spanish club across all competitions.

In those appearances, the Spaniard has chipped in with ten goals and four assists along the way.

From a defensive point of view, the 25-year-old has the second-highest number of interceptions and clearances to his name at Villarreal in La Liga this season.

Furthermore, no other defender in Unai Emery’s side has been able to complete as many passes as Torres has in this campaign, showing just how capable he is on the ball as well as off it.

This makes it easy to see why a team like City with a manager such as Guardiola would have their eyes on the player.

Looking at this Premier League season, three of the top five passers in the