Barcelona are set to loan out talented youngster Pablo Torre in the summer, as he struggles to make an impact on the Barcelona first team.
That is according to Todofichajes, who believe that the Blaugrana will seek more minutes for him next season.
Managing just 13 minutes in La Liga this season after making the move from Racing Santander last summer, Torre was tipped to have a cameo role at Barcelona this season. Yet he has barely played. Aside from minutes in the Champions League against Viktoria Plzen and Copa del Rey against Ceuta and Intercity, the 19-year-old has had few opportunities to prove himself.
On Sunday night, he clearly showed his frustration after being left on the bench again. According to Sport, after warming up for several minutes, Torre chucked away a waterbottle on his way back to the bench upon seeing that Angel Alarcon was being sent on ahead of him. It was a surprise to many that he did not see minutes against Cadiz, given he is a more natural replacement for Pedri than Franck Kessie and the game was in Barcelona’s favour.
A loan move might be good for Torre next season, as playing so little can significantly stall the development of young players. Torre has only played twice for Barcelona Atletic too. Xavi clearly does not feel he is ready for first-team football yet, thus it makes sense he fights for minutes somewhere else.
How is he a better replacement for Pedri than Franck Kessie? Torre is 19 years old and a year removed from second division football. Kessie has been capped 60 times by his national team and has played top flight European football for the past seven years.
Not saying that he doesn’t deserve chances, but suggesting that Torre is a better choice than Kessie at this point is just not accurate. As a Barca fan, I wish my club would focus a bit less on collecting as many midfielders as possible and backstop some other positions a bit more thoroughly, but midfielders coming to Barca know should know what they’re in for. If they’re not prepared to sit and earn their spot it’s going to be quite frustrating for some of them. Maybe that’s something kids like Pable Torre should think about before signing?