Back in 2022 when FC Barcelona under Xavi Hernandez brought over Ferran Torres from Manchester City and was playing a game after a long injury lay-off, the Spaniard curled a beautiful goal into the far post, everyone thought the club had signed a superstar in the making.
The reality is – since Barcelona forked £46.3m to sign the ex-Man City forward at a time when their financial situation was extremely dire, the expectations placed on him were very high and to be fair to him, he delivered rather well during his first six seasons at the club.
However, Ferran Torres was always meant to be a project player and to this date, that is the role that he is playing. At a time of transition, the Spaniard was a blessing to have but having signed more potent attackers like Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, Ferran’s role changed.
Hansi Flick, however, since the beginning of his time at the club, has understood Ferran for what he is and what he is not. As covered by Mundo Deportivo, the Spaniard is more than repaying his coach with important goals off the bench in recent weeks.
Ferran has four goals from his last three appearances for the club, having returned from an injury. Against Dortmund midweek, he turned the game around after coming on, showing proper striker instincts to net two goals and secure three points for the club.
What this means is that Ferran has the fourth-best goal efficiency at the club in terms of minutes this season, behind Robert Lewandowski, Pablo Torre and Pau Victor. When you consider that the latter two have hardly played and that the sample size is very minimal, it shows how valuable the €30m-rated is for the club.
As the report outlines, despite the wave of criticism coming Ferran’s way, the player has remained undisturbed by them all, due to his extremely strong mentality. It is also the reason why he doesn’t hesitate to get into goalscoring positions despite not being the most clinical in terms of finishing.
It is time Barcelona fans start appreciating Ferran for what he is rather than giving him stick for what he is not. The 24-year-old is an extremely valuable squad player to have and let’s wait and see how his form pans out.