Ferran Torres has hit the ground running since joining Manchester City in August and has four goals and two assists in 10 matches in all competitions.
The winger replicated his club form with Spain on Tuesday when he scored a hat-trick in La Roja’s 6-0 thumping win over Germany.
Pep Guardiola’s man is dominating the headlines in his country’s media today, and we focus on one such report from Sport. It’s headlined ‘Ferran Torres, the ‘wonder boy’ who escaped Barcelona’.
The outlet states the La Liga side had ‘two occasions’ to sign the 20-year-old before he left Valencia for City.
The first time was in 2017, but he decided to continue with Los Ches. The second time was during the last window, when he actually made a decision to leave Valencia.
With a year left on his last contract at the Mestalla, Torres was affordable for most big European clubs, despite the Covid-19 crisis. Sport say both Barca and Real Madrid decided against making a bid and the attacker set his sights on the Premier League.
City and Manchester United ‘fought’ for Torres and in the end, it was the Citizens who ‘took the cat out of the water’, mainly due to the better sporting and economic offer. In addition to this, Guardiola called his compatriot and ‘convinced him completely’.
Although Torres had a higher market value, Valencia accepted City’s €23m, plus €12m in potential bonuses, due to his contract situation.
His signing was a ‘great market opportunity’ for the English side and early performances have shown Torres’ signing has been a success for Manchester City. At the Camp Nou, there’s disappointment after failing to sign him on two occasions.
