MANCHESTER CITY newbie Ferran Torres wanted to stay at his boyhood club Valencia but felt he was forced out of the Mestalla.
The Spanish winger, 20, had been with the La Liga club since the age of seven before Pep Guardiola forked out £20.8million to sign him on a five-year deal.
Manchester City new boy Ferran Torres has hit out at former club Valencia and Dani ParejoCredit: Getty Images – Getty
And while the Spaniard insisted he is “excited and happy” by the new challenge ahead of him, he remains hurt at how his time at Valencia ended.
In an interview with Marca, Torres revealed he put forward conditions to Valencia bigwigs to stay.
He wanted the club’s billionaire owner Peter Lim to be involved with the talks so he knew he “was important”.
The winger also wanted to be made captain and one of the club’s highest earners – but none of the demands were met.
Mestalla skipper Dani Parejo came in the firing line with Torres claiming he was blamed for the bitter exit of former manager Marcelino.
The Spaniard said: “After three years I’m more mature and mentally stronger. But at 17, no.
“He [Parejo] is 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 scored six times and added seven assists in 44 appearances for Spanish side Valencia last season.
He claims his reputation at the La Liga outfit was tarnished by “people within the club” and “bad journalists”.
But he hasn’t ruled out eventually returning to his boyhood side.
When asked about the matter, he said: “I’m sure I can. I refuse to think otherwise.
“Even if there are crooked people. A lot of them won’t be there in a few years and I’ll have shown that I deserve to return.”
The 20-year-old is able to play on either wing and can also operate through the middle.
Guardiola will hope the Spain youth star can fill the void left by Leroy Sane at the Etihad.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
