Barcelona’s transfer plans for the summer have not hit top gear owing to the club’s inability to offload unwanted players. Even though Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez have signed, their registrations cannot take place until there are exits.
Likewise, more players cannot be brought in until the La Liga champions get rid of some of the deadwood from the squad.
One such player who is not in manager Xavi Hernandez’s plans, according to Mundo Deportivo, and is up for sale this summer is Ferran Torres. However, the 23-year-old attacker does not want to leave the club, making things tricky for Barcelona.
Torres has been at the club for 18 months but has failed to hit the heights expected after the Catalans invested €55 million in his signing from Manchester City.
The Spanish international has shown signs of potential but has not been consistent enough and fell down the pecking order behind Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, Raphinha, and Ansu Fati, who is also being linked with an exit.
Barcelona, thus, are keen to get rid of Torres so that his sale would lower the salary mass and generate revenue, allowing them to register the signing of Vitor Roque.
The Blaugrana are also understood to be seeking around €40 million for Torres and there is interest in his services from the Premier League.
Some reports have even suggested that the 23-year-old already has a couple of offers from England, but he is reluctant to accept them as he wishes to stay put at Barcelona.
As things stand, Torres will join the rest of the team for pre-season and it remains to be seen if the Catalans will be able to convince him to leave the club in the coming weeks.