Ferran Torres revealed how his former boss Pep Guardiola reacted when he informed him that he wanted to leave Manchester City for FC Barcelona two years ago.
Torres completed his move to the Blaugrana club in December 2021 on a five-year deal after spending just 12 months with the Manchester club.
The 23-year-old, while talking in a podcast, stated that Guardiola did not stand in his way and allowed him to move to the Catalan club.
“When I told him that Barca wanted me, he told me that he couldn’t say no. It’s my team, he told me, my Barca. As long as the teams agree, you can leave. Barca is Barca,” Torres said.
Even though he spent a very short time training under Guardiola, Torres couldn’t refrain from praising the Spaniard and also revealed how he plans training sessions and the talks he gives before any match.
“It’s crazy – how he plans training – 17 out of the 24 hours he has in the day, he’s watching football and improving. What impressed me the most is that in the talks before the games, he tells you what’s going to happen; you stand here, your teammate will be there, and then you’ll give it to him. And then it happens! The worst thing is that it happens,” he added.
Torres considered Barcelona’s head coach Xavi Hernandez the best man for the job and praised the former midfielder that he follows Guardiola’s philosophy.
“He likes to push the player to bring out the best version of the footballer because you need it. He follows the philosophy of Pep, Luis Enrique and the Barca school very much… He is a perfect coach for Barca. Little by little he is changing the system because football is constantly evolving. Above all, his desire to improve, he always thinks what he can do to help the footballer,” Torres said of Xavi.
“Now he’s obviously getting pissed off at us because we’re not playing at our best level. But he’s also giving us peace of mind because the season is so long, this is a cross-country race and not a sprint.”