Getty Ferran Torres celebrates with his teammates at the Bernabeu.
Barcelona forward Ferran Torres has revealed that bitter rivals Real Madrid have tried to sign him on multiple occasions during his career so far but he has always turned Los Blancos down.
Torres moved to Barcelona in the January transfer window from Manchester City on a five-year deal for a reported fee of €55 million. The 22-year-old has gone on to make 26 appearances for Barca, scoring seven goals and contributing six assists.
The forward is currently on international duty with Spain and spoke to Cope about the interest from Los Blancos and how he does not regret turning down the chance to move to Madrid, as reported by Diario Sport.
“When I was young I had various offers from Real Madrid,” he said. “I thought it was not the moment for different reasons. It was at the World Cup, I came up to the Valencia first team and I thought I would have more minutes with Valencia. I think it went well.”
Torres has already faced Real Madrid as a Barcelona player. He scored and picked up an assist in a famous 4-0 win at the Bernabeu back in March.
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Ferran Not Worried By Goal
Torres started life at Barcelona strongly but the goals and assists dried up towards the end of the 2021-22 campaign. Indeed the forward only managed one assist in his final 10 games of the season.
There has been criticism of Torres too, particularly for his finishing, but the youngster says he is not too worried about the scrutiny and is happy with his performances so far at the Camp Nou.
“As a winger, I don’t consider myself a striker,” he added. “Scoring goals does not depend on me. I am capable of scoring, when I can I have to give assists, but I’m proud I’ve given the team more work than just goals. I am ambitious and I don’t want to miss, but I’m not going mad about it.”
Torres also revealed that moving to Barcelona from Manchester City was an easy decision to make once he had spoken to coach Xavi.
“Coming Barça is already something great, having Xavi call you, with what a great player he has been, was decisive,” he added. “He transmitted his idea to me, the desire for him and I did everything possible to come to Barça.”
Torres Hoping Lewandowski Signs
Torres could be joined in attack by Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski next season. The forward is Barca’s top summer transfer target and the Spain international says he would love to play alongside him at the Camp Nou.
He explained, “He’s got some stratospheric numbers and that he’s motivated to come to Barcelona is something to be proud of. I hope they reach a deal.”
If Lewandowski does arrive it will mean Torres faces stiff competition for a place in attack with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, and Ez Abde also expected to be in Xavi’s squad for 2022-23.
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