Barcelona have set Manchester City's Ferran Torres as one of their primary transfer targets for the January window. However, City have rejected some of the players the Catalan club have offered as part of a swap deal. Only one Barca star piques City's interest.
21-year-old Spain international Torres started the season as Pep Guardiola's first-choice false 9. However, he has struggled for game time in recent weeks and months. Barcelona hope they can pinch him from the Premier League's defending champions in January. Yet City have placed a €70million evaluation on the attacker.
Barcelona have offered three players - Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti - to City as part of a swap deal.
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Instead of any of those, City would only be interested in Ansu Fati, according to Spanish outlet Marca. The teenage Spain international is clearly an asset Barcelona would not be willing to simply part company with. He already has 14 goals from 36 La Liga appearances in his short career, having only turned 19 in October.
It leaves the deal at a bit of a deadlock, with neither party happy with the other's demands. City are not desperate to lose Torres to Barcelona, but they are at least open to considering an agreement.
The same is true of Raheem Sterling, who has been lacking match minutes and confidence for Guardiola's side since the second half of last term.
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Barcelona have been committed to a policy of swapping players since discovering the extent of their financial issues. It is yet to bring them any significant results.
Torres signed for Manchester City from Valencia in 2020 for a fee of £20.8million. He replaced the outgoing club legend David Silva as the player given the No 21 shirt. Silva had already signed for City from Valencia. Torres has only featured in four Premier League games so far this season.
Words by Dom Smith
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Manchester City, Football, Barcelona, Premier League, Ansu Fati, England, Spain, Ferran Torres, La Liga