Man United revive interest in La Liga defender after humbling at Anfield

Liverpool laid down a marker for title rivals Manchester City on Tuesday night, by beating the Citizens’ rivals Manchester United 4-0 at Anfield.

The result lifted Jurgen Klopp’s side above City and into first place in the Premier League table, although Pep Guardiola’s side can regain their slender one point advantage with a win over Brighton on Wednesday evening.

The Reds were superb against United, going ahead early on through Luis Diaz, before Mohamed Salah doubled the advantage.

In the second half, Sadio Mane increased the hosts’ lead, before Salah grabbed his second late on, courtesy of a Diogo Jota assist.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are still very much in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple, having reached the final of the FA Cup and the semi finals of the Champions League.

Having already won the Carabao Cup after a penalty shootout victory over Chelsea in February, Klopp’s side are in with every chance of being the first English team to win all four competitions in one season.

For Manchester United, though, the situation is very different.

Ralf Rangnick’s side were nothing short of woeful defensively against Liverpool, and the result means that they have lost by an aggregate score of 9-0 to Klopp’s side over their two league meetings this term.

Torres scored in Villarreal’s Champions League triumph over Juventus

Now, though, it appears that the Red Devils are already targeting defensive reinforcements, with Spanish defender Pau Torres once again a target for the club.

According to The Manchester Evening News, the club have revived their interest in the Villarreal defender, less than a year after they were first linked with him.

Last summer United, then under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, identified the 25-year-old as a back up option to their ultimately successful pursuit of Raphael Varane.

The report claims that the Spanish club were open to a player-plus-cash deal last summer, but would now only accept a sole fee for a player whose current deal is set to expire next summer.

The Spaniard has been impressive in the past few seasons for the La Liga side, and has recently established himself as a regular at international level too.

Since a breakthrough 2019/20 campaign, Torres has played more than 120 times for Villarreal, and has been an integral part of their run to the Champions League semi finals, where they will face Liverpool.

United, meanwhile, are once again on the lookout for a central defender, with the likes of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire failing to impress of late and Varane having already missed 15 matches through injury.

Phil Jones was drafted in against Liverpool for just his second start of the season, but the Englishman was withdrawn at half-time as Rangnick moved from a back five to a back three.