Xavi informs Barcelona attacker that he will not play next season even if he decides to stay - Reports
Barcelona manager Xavi has reportedly informed Ferran Torres that he will not be playing next season, even if he chose to stay. The manager is not counting on the Spaniard and is pushing for him to leave the club.
As per El Nacional, Xavi has made it clear that he will not play Torres next season. The winger is determined to stay at Barcelona but is not in the manager's plans. The Blaugrana are keen on getting Lionel Messi back and know that they need to raise money.
Torres was one of the players they were looking to offload this summer, but he has no plans to leave. Newcastle United were linked with the winger, who played 32 games this season in La Liga and scored four goals.
Ferran Torres' Barcelona dream turned into nightmare
Barcelona signed Ferran Torres from Manchester City for a reported €55 million fee. He has played just 70 games across competitions since joining and managed 14 goals and nine assists.
On joining the Blaugrana in early 2022, the Spaniard told the club's official website:
"Barca is the best club in the world; everyone knows its history: it always fights for all the titles. When I left Valencia to go to City, I knew I would come back to play for one of the best teams in the Spanish league. It was my dream. And it has come true."
He added:
"When the Barca option appeared, from the first moment I said I wanted to come. After a good game against Italy, with the Spanish team, Mateu Alemany called my representative to tell them that Barca wanted me When I found out, I told my representative that, whatever it was, I had to finish here."
However, things did not go as planned for the winger, and he suffered on and off the pitch. He admitted that he needed help from a psychologist, telling ESPN:
"I found myself in a bottomless pit, and I could not see a way out. It had never happened to me before. That was the moment when I decided to work with a psychologist. I lost my confidence. Everything was affecting me.
"Seeing (a psychologist) will become increasingly normalised in football. There are weeks when I don't go and others when I go three times. We don't always talk about football; we also talk about my private life. It's been painful, but at the same time, it has been one of the best experiences because now I feel stronger."
SPORT has reported that Barcelona are open to selling the winger this summer for €45 million. The Spaniard's teammate Ansu Fati has also been put for sale for a similar price, as per the aforementioned report.