Torres credits Emery for his decision to join Villa and not any other team

Over the past year, the center back has truly shone for the Midlands club, showcasing exceptional talent and skill on the field.

Torres has become a mainstay in the team, helping them to secure Champions League qualification last term.

Speaking to La Razon from the Spain training camp, he stated: “I've always said that entering the Premier League with a coach who knew me, who I knew very well, I think was very important and surely if he hadn't been at Aston Villa I wouldn't have taken that step.

“I met with him, he told me about the project, we were analysing it and I also saw that at Villarreal I had achieved practically everything that could be achieved, that it was very difficult to do more things and we saw that it was time to take that step.”

He added on Emery’s influence: “Yes, I think he is the coach with whom I have played the most games. He is the coach who changed our mentality at Villarreal, who made everyone change their mentality to believe that we could win a title, something that until then had not happened.

“And I think he has been the coach, also on a day-to-day basis, who has demanded the most from us so that we all give our best. He already had a lot of experience from his previous spells in Europe and I think that had a great influence on him in the group.”