‘Would be a huge mistake’ ‘rather keep Laporte’ – Man City fans react to club’s reported Josko Gvardiol alternative

Manchester City fans have been reacting to a post on Twitter which relays a report that claims the club may turn their attentions to Villarreal defender Pau Torres if a move for Josko Gvardiol doesn’t materialise.

The 26-year-old had another strong season last year, making 39 appearances for the La Liga side across all competitions, while he has now earned 23 caps for Spain.

Torres attracted plenty of attention during Villarreal’s run to the Europa League victory in 2021. However as a young, ball-playing central defender, he has been on the radar of Europe’s elite for some time.

Having established himself as one of the leading defensive talents in Europe, question marks have been raised over his future at Villarreal given his current contract expires in June 2024.

According to a report from The Athletic, Pep Guardiola’s men could target the Villarreal star later in the window if they are unable to sign Josko Gvardiol.

This comes after it was recently claimed that RB Leipzig are demanding ‘way more’ than £71 million to sell the Croatian international.

Branded as an ‘elegant central defender’ by the Guardian, the Spaniard, who has a £42.8 million release clause in his contract, as per 90 Min.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been speculated with being interested in signing the 24-year-old on multiple occasions in the past, especially as a possible replacement for Aymeric Laporte.

The report shared on Twitter gathered a number of replies from a wide range of Man City supporters.

Laporte > pau torres

— Randy Pradana (@randy_pradanaa) June 21, 2023

@Aliyo_Jerry: “Pau Torres ain’t nowhere near Gvardiol’s level, I would rather keep Laporte if we don’t sign the Croatian tanker.”

@NickMCFC1894: “This would be a huge mistake, if we can’t get Gvardiol the plan B should be Bastoni”

@DeBlueLou: “Downgrade of the century”

@RishabA78: “Why not go for an actual LB then? Pau Torres doesn’t fit in this system”

@SilkyCyrus_74: “Pau Torres is not that guy, we can get way better than him if we dont somehow get gvardiol.”

@M1L3SM0RALL3S: “If we don’t get Gvardiol we should turn our attention to Bastoni and/or Colwill. If none of them works out, then we shouldn’t bother selling laporter”