Arsenal plan deal for £43m La Liga defender in January

Arsenal are reportedly planning a January move for Villarreal's Pau Torres as they seek to improve their defensive displays during the second half of the season.

The Gunners have failed to register a single win in the past four Premier League games and this has dropped them eight points adrift of the Champions League places after just 12 games.

According to The Sun, Emery is aware that the central defence needs to be strengthened at the turn of the year, considering the likes of David Luiz and Sokratis have failed to restrict the opposition from scoring regularly.

Furthermore, it is mentioned that Torres is the prime target for the north London giants and they could prise him away from the Yellow Submarines in an instalment deal similar to Nicolas Pepe's during the summer.

Torres has a £43m release clause on his current deal with the La Liga side and the Gunnes are likely to offer an initial £10m with the remaining likely to be paid through a period of four years.