Analysis: What should Barcelona do with Pablo Torre this summer?

It’s been another difficult season for Pablo Torre. During the 2022-23 campaign, in which he was promoted to the Barcelona first team upon joining from Real Racing Club de Santander, he failed to make any sort of impact on head coach Xavi Hernandez. As such, the decision was taken last summer to loan him out so that he could accumulate regular minutes.

Girona was his destination, and unfortunately for Torre, it has proven to be the wrong one in terms of his development. It is a difficult situation, as Michel Sanchez has relied upon the likes of Aleix Garcia, Ivan Martin and Yangel Herrera in midfield, and that trio are a big reason why the Catalan side are currently second in the La Liga table. There’s been little chance of Torre displacing any of them because of how good they have been.

Torre was able to play together five starts in seven matches when Herrera was out injured between December and January, but outside of this, he hasn’t started at all for Girona, instead being forced to try to make an impact from the substitute’s bench, which has been very difficult. Michel is under no obligations to play Torre, and you can’t question his decision-making, especially this season when he’s got almost everything spot on.

Torre will return to Barcelona in the summer, and it’s likely that he won’t have made too much progress compared to 12 months prior, which is a big shame for the 20-year-old. At this stage of his career, he needs to play regular minutes, although that won’t be happening at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys/Spotify Camp Nou, as he would again be a bench player there – similar to what Fermin Lopez is currently going through.

Fichajes say that Barcelona will look for another loan move for Torre, and it’s vital that they pick the right club. Honestly, it’s difficult to say whether he is La Liga quality at this stage as he’s barely been able to string consecutive performances together in the competition, so it’s hard to know whether he should be loaned out to another club in the first tier, or whether he should join a Segunda side.

Torre would undoubtedly be a valuable asset to any club in the Segunda, and the likelihood is that many would be chopping at the bit to take him on loan for the 2024-25 season. Barcelona would be aware of this, and they need to understand that he needs to play for a team where he is a regular starter week in, week out.

Torre is entering a crucial stage in his development, and he cannot afford to stagnate for much longer. Barcelona need to make the right move this summer, otherwise they are risking his long-term potential.