When Barcelona signed Ferran Torres in January, it was supposed to be the beginning of a central role for the former Manchester City winger. Starring for Spain, but without a starting role under Pep Guardiola, the Blaugrana would provide him a place to become one of the main men.
However things have not quite played out that way. Despite being a good addition to Barcelona during the second half of last season, his finishing was questioned.
By the time this season rolled around, a low on confidence Torres had lost his starting place to a combination of Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha. In fact, he has played just 228 minutes so far this season.
According to El Nacional, Arsenal made a last-minute offer for the Spanish international of €30m during the transfer window, which was rejected by Barcelona. With his continued lack of protagonism becoming a talking point, speculation has risen that Arsenal might come back for him.
Caught Offside spoke to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano about the potential for a deal in his column.
“I’m not aware of any negotiation between Barcelona and any other club for Ferran Torres.”
“Xavi trusts him and so I don’t see any change of plans, at least for January. He’s working hard and I think it’s normal at Barca to need some time to adapt with lot of competition too.”
Torres himself shut down rumours about him during a sponsor event with Jordi Alba at the beginning of the month.
While it is true that Ferran will be disappointed with the loss of starter status, stepping away from Barcelona is a decision not taken lightly. It seems likely that neither party would be ready to give up on the relationship just yet.
