Torre’s characteristics invite us to think of an ideal midfielder to occupy the inside position in the game model that Xavi defends for his Barça. For this reason, the Blaugrana entity rushed to hire him and get ahead of other clubs that had been interested in him, such as Real Madrid. In fact, it was just over a year ago, on March 4, 2022, when the club publicly announced that the signing was closed. They sealed him with almost three months left in the 2021-2022 season. Later, on June 15, Torre signed his contract with Barça, which ties him to June 30, 2026 with a €100 million release clause. But at that time the Catalan club still did not register the promising 19-year-old player.
As already explained by the ARA, the reason is that Joan Laporta’s board wanted the operation, of 5 million euros and which could reach 20 if the variables are met, to count in the 2022 financial year- 2023. The goal was not to affect the numbers for the 2021-2022 academic year, which closed on June 30 with 98 million in profit thanks to the first lever, the sale to Sixth Street. This would end up complicating an exit in the form of Pablo Torre’s transfer last summer. The midfielder considered his time in semi-professional football exhausted and, therefore, preferred not to play for the Blaugrana subsidiary, which plays in the First Federation. Getting a place in the first team was a difficult undertaking – Nico González asked to go out on loan for this very reason – and the Cantabrian looked forward to returning to Racing for a year on loan and playing in Segona.
Xavi was not opposed to the transfer, but the aforementioned accounting agreement between the Santander club and Barça made it difficult to return to his homeland. As reported by the press linked to Racing news, the footballer was suspended from July 1, a period already belonging to the 2022-2023 academic year. This could lead to bureaucratic problems. The regulations of the Spanish Football Federation are clear on the matter, since article 126 says: “Football players whose license is canceled will not be able, in the course of the same season, to obtain a license for the same team of the club to which they were already linked”. Finally, Pablo Torre ended up staying with the dynamics of the first team and, despite some attempt by the sports management to convince him that it was best to accumulate minutes with the subsidiary, he has only participated in two games: against Real Múrcia ( 90 minutes), on September 24, and last February 4, against Cornellà (81).
The reason for the few minutes at Barça
Despite the few minutes with which he is counting, from Sant Joan Despí there is no disputing his talent. The public reasons given by Xavi are “the high competition” in the middle of the field, but, as the ARA has been able to learn, his little presence is explained by attributes linked to “the physical demand, the rhythm and the intensity of first level matches”. It is not that Torre shirks the defensive commitments implied by Xavi’s model or is out of shape, but that the coach prefers to bet on more experienced footballers with experience in professional football such as Kessie or, lately and as a result of injuries and sanctions, Sergio Roberto In a needy Barça, Pedri fell in love with Ronald Koeman from the first moment, but the canary was also advised to gain muscle mass. Gavi, despite his youth, has physical exuberance “in his DNA”, and already has more than 50 games with the first team.
In this aspect, Pablo Torre has homework to do. From the Ciutat Esportiva they emphasize to the ARA that “if he’s trying”. He himself has shared pictures on social media doing physical work. “He’ll be coming in,” they decide from the coaching staff. Torre’s last chance was against Almeria. In a Barça that only had one shot between the three posts and that based, without success, its offensive game on crosses, the Cantabrian was one of the few that attempted key passes. There is no doubting his talent in the dressing room either. In a set piece action against the Andalusian team that was going to serve Ferran Torres, Araujo stopped the Valencian and advised Torre to serve. Without Pedri, injured, or Gavi, suspended, the ex-Racing man sees his options to participate against Valencia this Sunday increased.
