Anyone else missing Leroy Sane just a little bit?
I certainly am. But at the same time, I am optimistically looking towards what is a huge season for Manchester City in pursuit of the club getting back their Premier League title.
The German winger was brilliant. Make no mistake. No matter what was told in the media about the issues with his attitude, there was no questioning his overall ability.
Which is why Pep Guardiola wasted little, to almost no time, in bringing in Valencia’s Ferran Torres, who has a sparkling reputation in his homeland.
At the age of 20, Torres has a bright future ahead of him and could either go straight into the first team, or deputise for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva or even Phil Foden if the Englishman gets a reasonable amount of game time next season.
The Spaniard is a highly-promising offensive winger that can play on the right side of a front three and loves to cut inside and shoot. Well-respected journalist Guillem Balague described him as a player who possesses plenty of “ability and intelligence”, which is just what is needed within a system derived by Guardiola.
Will Ferran Torres be a good replacement for Leroy Sane?
Yes
No
For Valencia, he scored nine goals and provided 12 assists in 97 appearances for his former club (as per TransferMarkt), which was enough to convince Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain to bring him to England.
This is a solid record for someone who was in his late teens and has a similar playing style than Sane and what he brought to the team.
I do think that Torres can be just as good, if not better, than Sane was, and will be a critical factor in the team getting back to the top of English football once more.
Whether he does that in his first season, or second, remains to be seen. Not every player reaches their 20th birthday with almost 100 outings to their name. I believe that is an astonishing achievement.
He was described as a “rising star” by journalist Pedro Campos (cited by Sky Sports), and that is exactly what I believe he is.
Watch this space. Torres will need nurturing by Guardiola but if he gets it right. I truly feel he will be right up there as one of the best players in the Premier League.