The Basics
Age: 23
Club: Barcelona
Nation: Spain
Position: Forward
Footed: Right
Torres came through Valencia’s academy, joining the club aged six and making his first team debut in 2017, aged 17.
He was signed by Manchester City in the summer of 2020 for an estimated £20.8million, penning a five-year contract.
However, he would end up only serving 18 months of that contract, moving to Barcelona in January 2022 in a deal worth up to £56million, having seen his opportunities reduced in Manchester.
After a strong start at Barca, his form dipped at the start of the 2022/23 season, leading to Torres frequently being left out of the starting 11. His performances improved towards the end of the season, including a Man of the Match display versus Cádiz.
The forward has 40 goals in 223 club appearances, and an impressive 15 goals in 35 games for Spain.
The Links
Sam Dean of The Telegraph reported Villa were “considering” a move for Torres in early May.
David Bernabeu Reverter of Spanish news outlet SPORT later claimed Villa and Barcelona were “negotiating” the transfer of Torres, with the Catalan club looking for around £39million.
The Scouting Report
Strengths
Torres has a similar profile to Marco Asensio, whom Villa were interested this summer before he decided to join PSG. He is a quality all-around technical winger who would feasibly suit a move to a second striker role, given his attributes but also his stature, standing at 6’0”.
The Spaniard operates on either the right or left side for Barcelona, where his two-footedness comes in handy.
When deployed out wide, he is an excellent crosser, whipping the ball dangerously into opportune areas. He ranks in the 64th percentile for crosses among attacking midfielders/wingers in the ‘Big 5’ European leagues over the last year.
This quality of delivery means he often takes set pieces for Barca as well.
Torres shows he can control awkward passes with either his feet or his chest, and once the ball is at his feet, the forward is an effective dribbler.
There’s a determination to the way Torres carries the ball. He drives at defenders and can fight through tackles to keep possession. His strength allows him to shield the ball and win fouls or hold off defenders in tight areas.
He also has the agility and skill to bait opponents in and then take the ball away or knock it through their legs. The Spaniard ranks in the 72nd percentile for successful take-ons.
Throughout his career, Torres has shown himself to be a quality finisher, outscoring his expected goals (xG) in each of the last three seasons.
Torres’ technical ability is also evident in his passing. He can play accurate longer passes into a striker’s feet or cushion a pass to a teammate on the volley after receiving a cross field ball. Torres’ pass accuracy ranks in the 59th percentile.
He generally makes good decisions on the ball, as well. Torres doesn’t force passes that aren’t there or run down blind alleys. He’ll happily pass the ball backwards if it’s the best option.
At times Torres drifts into central areas, finding spaces on the edge of the penalty area, or tucks in to form a front two in build-up.
He has some success in challenging for aerial duels if his team are forced to go long, ranking in the 95thpercentile for aerial duel win rate compared to his positional peers.
The forward will offer for short passes or make runs behind the defence as appropriate, mixing things up enough to keep defenders on their toes.
Out of possession, Torres shows the ability to sense danger and drop into defensive cover positions if an opposing full-back has pushed up.
Weaknesses
Torres doesn’t give a great deal of effort defensively. His pressing doesn’t have much purpose, and while he’ll fall back into a defensive position, he’s not in a hurry. Even when his team has the ball, Torres doesn’t always sprint to get up the pitch and support the attack.
His ranking for tackles, interceptions, blocks, and clearances are in the 21st, 6th, 15th and 33rd percentile respectively.
He isn’t that eager to use his physicality at times. If he were to play as a second striker, teams shouldn’t expect to be able to launch long balls at him all game.
There are instances where Torres’ touch will let him down and be too far out in front of him. He will play the odd loose pass or stumble when dribbling and lose the ball. He ranks in the 15th percentile for miscontrols.
Although you certainly wouldn’t call him slow, he’s not a pure speedster, which puts a ceiling on how dominant he can be on the wing.
Fit With Villa
Torres would be an ideal fit for the second striker role alongside Ollie Watkins, which seems to be a priority for Villa this summer.
He could still drift wide and cause problems there but could also use his technical quality closer to goal. If Villa switch to a 4-3-3 system he would be able to move back out to either wing.
His stature would appear to allow for a transition inside, and his lack of defensive contribution would be less of a problem there.
The question is whether a transfer for Torres is realistic. Reports suggest he wants to stay at Barca, although he may not have a choice if the club are hellbent on bringing Lionel Messi back.
Even if he’s available, do Villa want a player who isn’t sold on the move? This could be a difficult deal to get done.
Similar Players
The 10 closest statistical comparisons to Torres, according to FBREF, are:
- Gabriel Martinelli – Arsenal
- Marcus Rashford – Manchester United
- Raheem Sterling – Chelsea
- Moussa Diaby – Bayer Leverkusen
- Karim Adeyemi – Borussia Dortmund
- Mohamed Salah – Liverpool
- Bukayo Saka – Arsenal
- Vinicius Júnior – Real Madrid
- Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Napoli
- Son Heung-min – Tottenham Hotspur
Transfer Targets Series
- Youri Tielemans
- Kieran Tierney
- Nico Williams
- Pedro Gonçalves
- Giovani Lo Celso
- Marco Asensio
- Mattéo Guendouzi
- Harvey Barnes
Reports aggregated by villareport.
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