When Barcelona’s chief executive and director of football arrived at Manchester City’s training ground at the end of November, officials from the English club were expecting an approach for Raheem Sterling, who had previously been of interest at the Nou Camp.
So they were taken back when Ferran Torres, who was only signed from Valencia 15 months earlier, was the subject of conversation. Especially as they had already rejected an approach in the summer.
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But this time, something had changed and City replied as they often do when they know the player wants to leave: “We won’t stop him, but he has a contract until 2025 so make us a good offer.”
So long, then, Ferran. We hardly knew you.
Barcelona are delighted with their purchase, worth £46 million plus £8 million in add-ons, hoping the 21-year-old can be the man to spearhead a new era under new coach Xavi for years to come.
The rest of us, meanwhile, are trying to establish what to make of the whole thing.
Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick against Newcastle United last season (Photo: Scott Heppell – Pool/Getty Images)Barca had been keeping an eye on Torres since 2017 and had tried to sign him in the summer. Mateu Alemany, the director of football that pitched up in Manchester, had helped Torres break through at Valencia and felt he was the right man for a new era.
City said no — they were already trying to move on Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva — and considered that the end of the matter, but Xavi is a huge admirer and after taking over as Barca coach in November he wanted the club to try again.
The key to the transfer — in the sense that it convinced Torres and Guardiola — was Barca’s absolute insistence that Torres would not only be part of the new project but that he would also spearhead it.
Since Lionel Messi’s departure, Barca are rebuilding with young Spanish players, including Pedri (19), Gavi (17), Nico (19) and Eric Garcia (20), as well as Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo (22) and the Moroccan winger Abde Ezzalzouli (20).
Xavi spoke to Torres and made it absolutely clear that would be the leader of this project — “el jugador franquicia”, the franchise player. He was their No 1 choice in the transfer market.
City did not want to sell him this time around, either, but when Torres relayed all of this to Guardiola, the move was sanctioned. The City boss appreciated the size of the opportunity and knew he could not offer the same at City.
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Torres had also been struggling to live away from family and friends in Manchester, had been frustrated at what he considered limited opportunities to play, and felt City would soon sign a big-name striker anyway. He was determined to make the move.
Sources close to Torres say his big regret is that he was not able to get to grips with Manchester life due to the pandemic.
“If you want to leave because you’re not happy here, you believe you’ll be happy in another place, you have to go,” Guardiola said. “The career is short. One day, it’s over.”
City had signed Torres for £21.8 million, plus add-ons, in August 2020. Considering they believe that £6 million of the £8 million in add-ons are easily achievable at Barcelona, they are happy with a profit of around £30 million.
Like so many new arrivals at the Etihad, Torres struggled to make his mark in his first season and Guardiola said in the final weeks that the forward’s reaction to a lack of opportunities affected his attitude and, therefore, performances.
“Ferran was in an incredible mood when he arrived, then was sad and upset with the world for many situations and that’s why he didn’t play good,” Guardiola said. “When he changed his mind and he was open and he started to smile again, he started playing well.”
Even so, he had scored 13 goals last season, more than any player has managed under Guardiola in their debut City season, and he was settling into life in the dressing room.
Sergio Aguero offered him advice on the type of movements to make as a striker, and Fernandinho is said to have been a huge help in his first weeks at the club. He was very close to Garcia and Aymeric Laporte, he drove Phil Foden to training and set up something of a language programme with Raheem Sterling, where they conversed in both Spanish and English.
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Torres did not always play a big part in City’s passing game but his goals, including a hat-trick at Newcastle in the third-last league game of the season, suggested that he may have the killer instincts to lead the line once those moves for Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo had fallen through.
Torres’ last game for City was against Wycombe in September (Photo: Matt McNulty – Manchester City/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)But as City put some wins together in the autumn, all the talk among the fanbase and in the media was about how they had played so well, “without Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish”. Torres rarely, if ever, got a mention. He had chosen to inherit David Silva’s No 21 shirt and hoped to live up to his countryman’s legacy, but was always regarded as a more peripheral figure, a work in progress, and that work will not now be completed in Manchester.
Still, his reputation is very high in his homeland — perhaps higher than when he left.
A hat-trick for the national team in a 6-0 battering of Germany 13 months ago excited Spain and City fans alike, and after a rough group stage at the European Championship he, like his team, grew into the tournament. Torres emerged from it as a permanent fixture in the first XI.
He has been used on the wing since the Euros but still scored four goals in his five World Cup and Nations League games, and Spain coach Luis Enrique has no doubts about his suitability for the striker’s role: he and Guardiola discussed Torres’ potential as a No 9 while City were in the process of signing him.
Despite never generating the same hype in the Premier League, Torres knows he has become more rounded as a player and believes he would not be in the position he is now if he had not moved to Manchester and worked with Guardiola.
The best is yet to come, but it’s also true that as long as City continue to do well, it won’t sting too much even if Torres does shine brightly elsewhere, and that’s especially the case if they put Barcelona’s money towards finally securing the clinical striker they are desperate to sign.
It’s also worth mentioning Cole Palmer. These things can tend to sound like sour grapes when clubs sell a player but senior sources at City genuinely seem to believe Palmer, a 19-year old local lad who made his first Premier League start against Everton in November, could become even better than Torres.
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Other factors were far more significant in Torres’ departure, but City do feel comfortable that in Palmer they have an even younger alternative who could soften any blow.
Ultimately, this is a move that suits all parties.
(Top photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
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