Torres reveals calming Guardiola words; outlines other ‘very big’ offers
Ferran Torres says new boss Pep Guardiola “calmed him down” before he went through with his exciting move to Manchester City.
City confirmed the signing of former Valencia winger on Tuesday evening. The Spaniard arrived for around £21million and will replace Leroy Sane, who left for Bayern Munich.
Upon signing, Torres revealed his “love” for Guardiola’s attacking style of play that has seen City score more goals than any other Premier League team for three seasons running.
Speaking to Marca, Torres also spoke of how Guardiola also had a personal impact on his big move.
“He congratulated me and gave me peace of mind,” the winger said. It calmed me down and made me want to sign even more.”
Torres added: “[I want] to work, adapt quickly and learn. The more competition you have, the better you become. You always have to be at your best because otherwise you’ll be on the bench.
“On the one hand, I’m excited and happy, but at the same time I’m sad because I’m leaving my club. Valencia game me everything and trained me since I was seven.
“I’ve had hard times there and that’s why I ended up leaving, but I want to emphasise that I’m very grateful to Valencia and will always support them.”
TORRES REVEALS ‘VERY BIG’ OFFERS
Torres also opened up on how he felt “nervous” when his move to City began to advance, as well as the other “very big” clubs that got in touch about signing him.
“Everything was done late with City,” he said. “The first contact was with Valencia and they said that they wanted to speak with us. Then we reached an agreement before they negotiated with Valencia.
“I was very nervous that day. My agent was in Manchester with the club and he called me to tell me they had an agreement and I’d play for City.
“It’s a club who want to win everything so I think I’ll improve a lot here. Very big teams called but I have to keep that to myself.”
Reports claim City’s spending will continue, with a deal to sign Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake close.