Why Arsenal's late Ferran Torres bid was rejected

Karan Tejwani

5 Sept 2022 09:40 BST
3 min read

Ferran Torres, Barcelona, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Arsenal made a late bid for Barcelona attacker Ferran Torres, but it was rejected as Xavi wished to keep the Spaniard at the Camp Nou for the upcoming season.

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Torres only moved to Barcelona from Manchester City in the January transfer window for a £47.5 million fee, and despite having a small impact, he’s struggled to nail down a first-team place.

He also never nailed down a permanent first-team place while at Manchester City, hence the reason for his sale to Barcelona in the January transfer window.

According to El Nacional, Arsenal were eager to see if they could land the player in the summer, but were rebuffed by the Barcelona boss’ desire to keep him in Catalonia.

Barcelona refused to sell Torres

Barcelona have had a busy transfer window, particularly strengthening their attack by signing the likes of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and Raphinha from Leeds United.

That encouraged Arsenal to see if they’d be open to selling Torres, and they launched a £26 million bid for the player on deadline day.

It was widely believed that Arsenal would prioritize signing a midfielder in the transfer window, but in later days, they turned their focus towards a creative winger.

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That was the reason they were interested in signing Wolves’ Pedro Neto, but those plans were rebuffed as the asking price set by the club was too high.

Torres made 13 appearances for Barcelona last season having signed in January, and has made three so far this season, starting one of those matches.

The Spaniard is still only 22 and has a long future in the game, having already played for Valencia and Manchester City so far in his career.

Arsenal are expected to be back in the market for a winger in January – they previously also had interest in Raphinha, before Chelsea and Barcelona showed their strength, as the latter eventually signed him.