Real Madrid tried to sign current Barcelona forward in 2020 – report | OneFootball

Ferran Torres finished last season’s La Liga as the highest scoring Spanish player in the competition, capping off his best campaign in Spain’s top flight.

He even earned a call-up for the ongoing FIFA World Cup under Luis de la Fuente as a regular member of the dynamics and continues to be a player the manager counts on as an impact substitute if not a starter.

Yet, what has always remained his lacuna is his inconsistency in front of goal. He has always been a great goalscorer on his day, but his off days see him cut an equally frustrating figure.

Real Madrid’s close call

Torres is currently one of the top pieces in Hansi Flick’s dynamics at Barcelona, but in a shocking update issued by AS, he could well have been a Real Madrid player.

Ferran Torres could have been a Real Madrid player. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Torres grew up in the circuit of Valencia, and his market value initially spiked after Spain’s special run at the U-17 World Cup in India where they returned as runners-up.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid had him on their radar at the time as he had a clause of €8 million that allowed him to leave.

At that point, Valencia handed him a first-team debut and saw that clause shoot up as per their agreement, prohibiting a move to Real Madrid.

Eventually, the player grew into a promising forward and shone at the U19 Euros, and he eventually left for Manchester City in 2020 for a fee of close to €33 million.

Barcelona signed Ferran from Man City in 2022. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

Even at that time, Real Madrid were interested in him and waiting for his signing, but the player preferred to move to England.

Later on in January 2022, the attacker returned to Spain, signing for Los Blancos’ arch-rivals Barcelona.

A development that aged well

While Torres is indeed a fine player in his own right, Real Madrid will not have too many regrets about missing out on his signing half a decade ago. After all, they went on to develop a formidable front line themselves.

Six years down the line, Los Blancos have a formidable attacking partnership of Vinicius Jr. and Kylian Mbappe, and could not have dreamed of much more.

Torres, meanwhile, has struggled to establish himself as a regular starter for Barcelona and even battled for minutes against a 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski until last season.