Spain star Ferran Torres shrugs off Barcelona ‘rumours’ and insists he is happy at Man City… before joking ‘the only downside is the weather’
- Ferran Torres has been on Barcelona’s radar since bursting on to the senior stage
- But Man City won the race for his signature in 2020, splashing out £20million
- The forward scored twice as Spain beat Italy 2-1 in Milan in the Nations League
- Torres thrived as a central striker, having played most of his career as a winger
Ferran Torres has brushed off the rumours linking him to a move from Manchester City to Barcelona in January.
Despite being more at home on the wing, Torres is one of the only options Pep Guardiola can call on to play as an out-and-out striker this season.
Torres has managed 16 goals through 43 appearances, including a Premier League hat-trick, in his Citizens career and also has bagged 12 goals through 21 outings for Spain.
Spain international Ferran Torres has brushed off the rumours linking him to a Barcelona move
And the 21-year-old’s finishing quality was on display once again during international duty earlier this week.
Torres scored a brace with lethal execution to secure Luis Enrique’s Seleccion a 2-1 win over Euros champions Italy in the Nations League semi-finals.
The Spaniard has been on on the radars of Barcelona and Real Madrid since bursting onto the senior stage at Valencia.
The 21-year-old guided home a right-footed volley expertly to open the scoring for Spain
The forward’s header left Gianluigi Donnarumma stranded for Spain’s second goal in Milan
El Clasico rivals were unable to do a deal when a big-money move was made in 2020, as City won the race, investing around £20million to add him to their attacking squad.
But his progress under Guardiola has now led to a shock January loan move to Barcelona being mooted.
However, the forward is reading little in to the links, telling Radioestadio noche: ‘There are always rumours, a thousand come out every day.’
Torres (No 11) is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring his second for Spain against Italy
He added on his experience in England: ‘Now I am enjoying being able to go out more to see Manchester, it is a city in which there are things to do. The only downside I would put is the weather.’
Against Italy, Torres showed he is capable of stretching the defence in behind, as well as linking the play with his neat touches. His pace scares defenders and he has a striker’s instinct for finding the right spaces in the box.
Guardiola has spotted this, and used Torres up front for the first six matches of the season. They included consecutive defeats to open up against Leicester in the Community Shield and Tottenham in the Premier League, but also saw two 5-0 wins over Norwich and Arsenal and Torres net twice as he grew into the role.
Torres celebrates one of his two goals scored against Arsenal in a 5-0 win earlier this season
But strangely, he has started just once in five matches since – and that was in a much-weakened team to face Wycombe in the Carabao Cup. He scored in that match, but Guardiola has preferred Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish or Phil Foden in the false nine role recently.
Amid the competition to break into City’s jam-packed attack, Torres could be suffering another minor setback.
He has been a slight doubt for the final against France on Sunday after picking up a knock and limping off the pitch against Spain.
But brimming with confidence, Torres insisted a slight knock will not hold him back.
‘The foot is progressing well. It is time to deal with the physios for Sunday. I am a warrior, I will play in the final whatever,’ he said when asked for an injury update.
