The £17m winger who could give Newcastle some extra cutting edge next season

Let’s start with some honesty – whatever reports in the Spanish media might suggest, Newcastle United do not appear to have made a €20m (£17m) bid for Barcelona forward Ferran Torres, with the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards among the better-connected journalists suggesting the story is wide of the mark. But that doesn’t mean that Torres isn’t a person of interest at St. James’ Park, and his signing would make a lot of sense for the direction the club is moving in.

Newcastle are one of a few Premier League sides who are in a position where they may need to sell players before 30 June in order to ensure they are compliant with the top flight’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), and that alone means that the club will likely be cautious with expenditure before July rolls around. They have already confirmed the arrival of Lewis Hall and are working on a deal for Burnley’s James Trafford – further signing may have to wait.

In other words, while no bid has been made yet, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Torres isn’t an option, especially if there’s an opportunity to take advantage of Barcelona’s challenging financial situation and sign him for a fee as low as €20m. The Spanish media may be flat wrong with this rumour, of course, but they may also just be jumping the gun a little.

Another reason Newcastle would naturally wait on a move for a player like Torres is that they are still waiting to find out if they can offload Miguel Almirón this summer. The 30-year-old Paraguayan may be a wildly popular figure on Tyneside but his productivity dropped in a disappointing 2023/24 season and the club appear keen to cash in on interest from Ipswich Town and Saudi Arabia.

There has not yet been any positive movement on that front, however, with the player said to favour a move back to the USA which has not yet materialised. Until a space is freed up for him in the squad, a move for Torres would be a luxury rather than a necessity – and besides, he is rather busy training with Spain’s Euro 2024 squad, which in itself is a good reason to hold off on a formal offer.

But Newcastle may soon need a new right winger, and a player who can deputise as a striker if needed could be ideal given that the team is a little thin up front when Alexander Isak is unavailable. Torres, as a goalscoring winger who’s just as happy in the centre-forward role, fits the bill perfectly, especially if he’s available on a budget-friendly deal.

Torres didn’t end the season at Barcelona especially well and he has started just two domestic matches since January, all of which paints a rather bleak picture of the 24-year-old’s progress since leaving Manchester City – but in reality, he started the season well before a hamstring injury and his underlying numbers are impressive, not least the fact that his seven La Liga goals came at a rate of one goal every 180 minutes. That’s a very impressive strike rate for a supporting forward, and the same sort of pace he scored at with Manchester City.

He still has the deficiencies which caused Pep Guardiola to move on from him, admittedly, not least that his passing game is a little undercooked and he doesn’t create as many chances for others as one would expect from a winger, but his much more direct game, based largely on pace, off-ball movement and short-range dribbling, would seem to suit Eddie Howe’s strategy rather better than it did Guardiola’s. Torres isn’t really built for a bit of tiki-taka, but a direct, high pressing side which looks to get the ball forward quickly should suit him down to the ground.

Wages could be a minor sticking point – he’s on an estimated £160,000 per week, which is certainly an issue for the impecunious Barcelona – but if Newcastle can crowbar him into the budget (another reason that Almirón leaving first might matter) then he seems like he might fit right in at St. James’ Park. He’s got the speed and cutting edge to be the kind of player who thrives in this team.

Perhaps the Spanish media have just got it all wrong. Perhaps Barcelona would demand enough money that the deal gets a little less exciting, and perhaps Newcastle have other targets or simply don’t have the spare money to prioritise his signing. But this looks like an ideal fit between player and club, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the rumours come true somewhere down the line.