Ferran Torres: Valencia team-mates stopped talking to me
Manchester City’s new signing Ferran Torres has revealed that his Valencia team-mates stopped talking to him and fellow youngster Lee Kang-in following the dismissal of popular head coach Marcelino.
In September of 2019, Marcelino was sacked by Valencia after falling out with owner Peter Lim. One of the reported reasons for Lim’s decision was that Marcelino’s desired transfer targets would hamper the progress of two of Valencia’s rising stars - Torres and Kang-in.
Subsequently, the two players were viewed as outcasts within the Valencia dressing room, especially by club captain Dani Parejo, with Torres saying they were ignored for weeks after Marcelino left.
“After three years I'm more mature and mentally stronger. But at 17, no,” the new City player told Marca when asked about his relationship with Parejo.
“He's a great player but I never had a relationship with him. When I joined the first team at 17, a number of weeks passed before he said a simple 'good morning' to me. He wasn't a good captain with me.
“The worst of it came after Marcelino's departure when [Lee] Kang-in and I were seen as culprits in the dressing room and they stopped talking to us for weeks.”
Torres insists it was his desire to stay at Valencia, and even gave the club the conditions which would allow him to stay, which were ultimately not met.
He wasn't a good captain with meFerran Torres on Dani Parejo
“One was for Peter Lim to be involved so that I knew I was important, another was to be captain as I had seen other clubs do, [Atletico Madrid] with Fernando Torres, for example, and the third was to be one of the highest paid players,” he recalled.
“I wanted two of the three, but none were fulfilled.”
Man City paid €25m for Torres this week as a replacement for Bayern-bound Leroy Sane.