Aston Villa have kicked off transfer talks for Barcelona attacker Ferran Torres.

The former Manchester City forward is available from Barca this summer and Villa have acted quickly to open talks about bringing him back to England.

Sport says negotiations are now accelerating with sporting director Mateu Alemany leaving Barca for Villa.

Torres is rated at around €50m by the Catalans.

For his part, Torres is willing to leave in search of regular football.