What can Ferran Torres bring to Barcelona’s game?

He is one of the players Xavi spoke about with Mateu Aleman and Rafa Yuste before he took over as Barcelona coach. The former midfielder, captain and now Blaugrana coach appreciates the young Spaniard’s versatility and flair for goals. As well as his experience despite his young age.

The arrival of Ferran Torres should now help Barcelona in the penalty area, but it is also an investment for the future. The 21-year-old is not a classic striker. He can move in the penalty area and can help the Blaugrana stop being ineffective in the final stages.

Last season, Pep Guardiola fielded Torres as a “false nine” with an excellent record of seven goals.

The Spaniard scored twelve goals in 22 games for the national team, including a memorable hat-trick against Germany. Interestingly, Ferran Torres played more often in the Spanish senior national team under Luis Enrique (77.2% of games) than in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City (43.4%).

He made his debut for the Spanish national team on 3 September 2020 in the UEFA Nations League match against Germany (1: 1) and immediately played the full 90 minutes. He joined Manchester City in the summer of 2020 from Valencia for 23 million euros plus 12 million in bonuses.

The numbers are in his favour

It was a very high amount, considering that his contract with Los Che was ending a year later. He made his debut for the Citizens on 21 September in a game against Wolves (1::3), in which he played as a “nine”. In his first season in the Premier League, he played a total of 24 out of 38 games, 14 of which were in the starting line-up. He scored four goals in five group stage matches in the Champions League, but Pep Guardiola unexpectedly stopped relying on him in the spring.

Ferran Torres played just ten minutes in the first leg of the semi-final, even though the Citizens made it to the final in Porto, where they lost 0-1 to Chelsea. The Spaniard had a great finish in the Premier League. In the last ten games he has appeared five times from the first minute in matches and four times from the bench – scoring a total of five goals. He started this season as a starting line-up player. However, he was injured during the national team training camp, which he is still struggling with today.

Versatility and intelligence

At Barcelona, Ferran will be able to play all three positions in attack. Even as a central midfielder in a 3-4-3 system (a position usually occupied by Nico and Gavi). The twenty-one-year-old Spaniard can be a salvation for Xavi, who wanted to revive his wing play from the start, and also had problems with his strikers and their effectiveness.

Memphis Depay usually failed, especially in big games, and Ousmane Dembélé is often injured. Xavi had to reach for Ferran Jutla, try Gavi as a false winger, Yusuf Demir or Sergiño Dest were not ideal on the wing.

Torres will definitely give Xavi more options and also quality in the penalty area. This will be especially important when Abde travels to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ferran is also no stranger to positional play, which is another key element for Xavi. The 21-year-old has had to deal with it under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. Both at Manchester City and in the national team, he has already proved that he is a tactically very intelligent player.

Source: FC Barcelona