Torres proves he can still be a big weapon for Pep
WHEN struggling Spain needed snapping out of their daze as they trailed lowly Georgia on Sunday night, up stepped Ferran Torres.
The young City winger scored the equaliser in what developed into a 2-1 win to get Luis Enrique’s side out of another hole and remind the club of what a talent they have on their hands.
Blues bosses were convinced they had secured a bargain when they signed the youngster for £20m from a cash-strapped Valencia as he approached the final years of his contract.
So significant was that purchase that Torres was used as the marker when Barcelona came for Eric Garcia later in that transfer window, that price used as a sum that should be seen as considerable but a steal for the talent it represented.
After being eased in with two Carabao Cup games, Pep Guardiola threw the 21-year-old straight in at the deep end as he was used as a makeshift striker in the first part of the season with Gabriel Jesus and Sergio Aguero injured.
The response was encouraging. Torres may have had (and still have) plenty to learn about playing in a Guardiola team, but managed seven goals before the New Year and has scored in all four competitions for the Blues. Given how Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva flourished in their second season at the Etihad, the young Spaniard is set up to have a similar impact.
Catching Covid in January definitely took a big chunk out of his season, though. Torres lost some weight as he battled with the disease and by the time he returned to full strength it was a daunting task to break up a side that now looked unstoppable in the middle of an English record of consecutive wins.
The player’s health has returned but his confidence has taken longer to come back, with rusty displays against West Ham and Fulham doing little to challenge the in-form Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Phil Foden for a regular starting berth.
A positive display against Georgia was capped by a City-esque goal, though, as the forward ghosted into the far post to convert a low cross and get Spain back in the game.
If that were not enough, his comments after the match sounded like they could have come from Guardiola himself. “We knew we were going to suffer, and we had the fans against us,” he told Marca.
“The important thing is we have worked until the end and got the three points.
“Every game is different, and it can be difficult if opponents try and lock us up, but if we play our football, few teams can beat us.”
City know they have a star of the future on their hands in Torres, but if he can bring this level back to Manchester the manager has another useful weapon in his arsenal for the assault on four trophies in the next two months.