Chelsea may table a €50m (£42.5m) offer for Villarreal defender Pau Torres, according to reports in the Italian media.

The centre-back has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Manchester City in recent months, but it is believed that Juventus would be the Blues’ main rivals for the player’s services.

The Serie A side are looking to strengthen their backline after losing both Matthijs de Ligt and Giorgio Chiellini this summer. They have already signed Bremer from Torino but they are keen on recruiting Torres as well.

In terms of Chelsea’s interest, it has been suggested that Torres may be a potential alternative to Jules Kounde, if they lose out to Barcelona for the Frenchman. However, it is much more likely that the Villarreal player is being looked at if moves for Presnel Kimpembe or Josko Gvardiol are not successful.

Torres is left-footed like Kimpembe and Gvardiol and he would be a much better fit to replace Antonio Rudiger on the left-hand side of the back three.