Ferran Torres of FC Barcelona
Ferran Torres of FC Barcelona (Image: Getty Images)
Striker Ferran Torres, the forward who plays for Barcelona and who has previously been strongly linked with a move to Aston Villa, could be available for a move this summer for a fee in the region of 50m euros (or £42m).
Torres is coming off the back of the best individual campaign of his career; the 25-year-old, who has previously spent a brief spell in England with Manchester City, has scored 19 goals and produced seven assists for Barca this season with a couple of matches to play.
The Blaugrana have won the Copa del Rey - Torres scored in the 3-2 win over Real Madrid in the final at the end of lat month - and then, this past weekend, they secured the La Liga title, too - again, at the expense of El Clasico rivals Real, when they beat Catalan rivals Espanyol, though Torres was absent with appendicitis.
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The forward did contribute a hat-trick of assists in his last league outing, however, which was also a win over Madrid, while he scored in the crazy 3-3 first leg draw with Champions League semi-final opponents Inter Milan.
Torres, who has continued to receive international call ups with Spain, has often been second fiddle to Hansi Flack despite his hefty contribution, however; he has started only 19 of the 45 appearances he has made in all competitions, having had to be patient for chances behind first choice attack Raphinha, Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski.
Barca have also been credited with an interest in bringing striker Marcus Rashford, currently on loan at Villa, to La Liga this summer and, in event they pursued a deal for the England international with Manchester United, Torres could be allowed to leave for the aforementioned fee.
Villa, like they have done with Joao Felix and, prior to actually signing him, Marco Asensio, have been linked with Torres for large portions of compatriot Unai Emery's tenure and his potential availability could prompt interest from them again this coming summer, in a player who has two years remaining on his Camp Nou deal.
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