- Nabeel
Why Ferran Torres joined Barcelona from Manchester City
Manchester City this afternoon officially announced the departure of Ferran Torres to Barcelona after last week it emerged the sides had reached an initial £46.7million agreement for the player with £8.5million in add-ons included in the deal.
In a statement on the club website, Director of Football Txiki Begiristain said:
"Ferran should be proud of what he has achieved here at Manchester City. Last season was his first time in a new country, but he adapted well. He always gave 100%, worked hard for the team and scored goals which helped us win trophies. Injury, unfortunately, prevented him from playing more games this season, but Ferran is a player we have all enjoyed working with and we wish him all the best at Barcelona and for the rest of his career."
Having signed Torres for an initial £21million from Valencia in the summer of 2020, the sale to Barcelona represents a very healthy profit for the Premier League champions as they work towards a summer transfer window in which they will probably need to sign a striker and a holding midfielder to replace Fernandinho.
As reported by Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News last week, £6million of the £8million or so in bonuses is believed to be easily achievable.
Mike McGrath of The Telegraph has revealed that the terms of the deal mean the payments owed by Barcelona will be spread out – perhaps as expected given their financial situation – with the major instalments not starting until next year.
Yesterday, El Pais journalist Jordi Quixano detailed Barcelona's pursuit of the Spain international, writing that their initial approach in the summer was thwarted by City, who were blunt in saying the 21-year-old was not for sale, with other players on the market at the time.
However, when Barcelona Director of Football Mateu Alemany travelled to Manchester last month, it was reportedly made clear to Torres that he would be one of the club's 'franchise players' and that everything possible would be done to sign him as the new project would 'revolve around him'.
Quixano claims that Barcelona manager Xavi told him the same thing in a telephone conversation that enthused the former Valencia man – he was being offered a chance Pep Guardiola could not guarantee in the short term due to the quality of the players at his disposal in the attacking areas.
Sam Lee of The Athletic reports that City did not want to sell Torres this time around either, but that once the forward relayed all this to Guardiola, the move was sanctioned as the boss appreciated the size of the opportunity and knew he could not offer similar in Manchester.
According to The Athletic journalist, Torres had been struggling to live away from his family and friends in Manchester, had been frustrated by a perceived lack of opportunities to play, and felt City would soon sign a big-name striker anyway.
Paul Hirst and Pol Ballus in The Times report that City want to use the money they bank from the Torres deal to fund the purchase of a striker next summer.
Written by: @NA1907_
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