Only a fortnight ago, Manchester City announced that Leroy Sane would be leaving the Etihad for Bayern Munich after four seasons, but they have moved quickly to secure a replacement for the German international in the form of Valencia CF wunderkind, Ferran Torres.
The 20-year-old winger has been phenomenal this season, and it is being reported that the Sky Blues have reached an agreement with the player, to make him their first signing of the summer.
Torres’ contract talks with Los Che had stalled, with the Citizens taking advantage of the situation by contacting the player’s entourage, and a multiple-year contract has been agreed, as per Eurosport.
All that’s left now is for Manchester City to fork out a package for Valencia, who will be forced to sell their academy product or risk losing him on a free transfer next summer.
There is a general feeling that the La Liga club would be open to selling Torres, given their financial difficulties of late, combined with the player’s willingness to look for a new challenge in his relatively young career.
A brief history of Ferran Torres
The Spaniard began his professional career with Valencia ‘B’, the club’s reserve team, before eventually finding his way into the senior team after impressing for the reserves.
Ferran Torres made his first-team debut in November 2017 and hasn’t looked back since, becoming a key player under former manager Marcelino Garcia Toral and his successor, Albert Celades, who was sacked earlier in June.
Till date, the prodigious winger has donned the famous Valencia jersey 95 times across all competitions, racking up a tally of nine goals and 11 assists in the process.
Of those, six goals and seven assists have come this season itself, and such stellar form has seen Torres land up on the radar of various European elites.
As per reports, Manchester City’s cross-town rivals, Manchester United were also keeping tabs on the player, alongside Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, but City seem to have stolen the march on others.
What would Ferran Torres bring to the table at the Etihad?
Capable of playing on either wing, the Spanish Under-21 star would be a de facto replacement for Leroy Sane.
Torres is blessed with immense pace and dribbling abilities and is adept at playing with both his feet. Just like Sane, he can play in multiple positions which would give a lot of freedom to Pep Guardiola.
For the majority of his career, he has played as a right-winger, and upon the completion of his move to the Etihad, the Valencia prodigy will be expected to compete with Riyad Mahrez for a place in the playing XI.
Torres was at his impressive best for Spain’s U-19 team in the Europeans Under-19 Championship last year, scoring both the goals in his team’s 2-0 win over Portugal in the final.
The verdict:
Ferran Torres is hands down one of the most exciting talents in La Liga, and his signing would further strengthen Manchester City’s squad as they will look to dethrone Liverpool as Premier League champions next season.
The youngster has a profile very similar to that of Leroy Sane. When the latter joined over from Schalke in 2016, he was blessed with sheer pace, however, the German was still a rough diamond and needed polishing.
Pep Guardiola, a coach who has played a very important role in the development of world-class players such as Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Iniesta, worked his magic on Leroy Sane as well, and we have every reason to be excited about Torres following a similar path to all the aforementioned stars.
At the age of 20, he has immense potential, and joining a team like Manchester City early on in his career will only help in the development of the Spaniard.
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