Ferran Torres looks to be on his way to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Spaniard scored the only goal of the 2026 World Cup final, helping Spain beat Argentina 1-0 in the United States. He went into the summer off the back of a good season for Barcelona for goals, despite not getting the minutes he would have liked.
Luis Enrique’s European champions are looking to bolster their options as they seek to win the Champions League for a third success season. But how would Torres improve their options?
In this article, we’ll cover
Data comparison
As mentioned, Torres didn’t get the playing time he would have wanted last season, with 2,692 minutes across all competitions. But he was directly involved in 24 goals, scoring 21 alongside three assists.
The 26-year-old boasted better shot accuracy (63.79%) and conversion rate (23.19%) than any of his future teammates last season. He also had the best aerial success numbers, winning 58.14% of his 2.0 aerial duels contested per 90 in La Liga in 2025/26.
Unsurprisingly, Ousmane Dembele dominated in other areas, including shots (3.3), goals (0.9), assists (0.6) and chances created (3.5) per 90. The Frenchman also ahd the highest take-on success rate at 61.54%. And he showed his creativity despite playing as a false nine, completing 1.1 crosses and making 1.5 through-balls per 90.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was the toughest for opposition defenders to mark. He completed 2.7 take-ons per 90 in Ligue 1 last season, alongside 9.9 touches in the opposition box. And Desire Doue averaged the most touches per 90 (83.9), but he also thrived with his defensive workrate. Doue won 6.2 duels per 90 and made 4.3 ball recoveries in Ligue 1.
Off-ball movement
A huge part of PSG’s tactical framework is having mobility between players, understanding how to create and take space.
Torres was often used as a false nine for Barcelona last season, timing his movement to create space for others to attack.
His ability to understand when to drop deep and link with the midfield was pivotal to Barcelona’s attacking play, helping to build out into one-on-one isolations.
Torres is active with his movement, using countermovements to create seperation from the defender.
He is always looking to change direction and use his footwork inside the box, diverting his runs multiple times in one phase to lose his marker.
While Torres’ movement to come towards play and attack the ball is strong, he also attacks depth well, making runs beyond to drag the opposition defensive line backwards.
This helps his teammates who want to receive between the lines, creating space between the defensive and midfield lines.
Shooters shoot
Torres is also a forward who is direct in looking to get his shots away. Whether that be with movement to arrive for first-time finishes or quick shift-and-shoot scenarios.
The Spaniard averaged 3.14 shots per 90 last season, playing in a team with multiple 3.00+ per 90 shooters such as Lamine Yamal, Marcus Rashford, Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez.
His confidence is key to this. Even if his range is off and he continues to miss chances, Torres doesn’t refrain from taking the next shot.
As Wayne Gretzky’s famous quote goes: “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Torres seemingly agrees with this, always willing to take that next shot, which ended with him scoring a legendary World Cup-winning goal despite a poor overall tournament in front of goal.
A certain quality Torres has which helps when it comes to his shooter mentality, is looking for quick releases to catch the goalkeeper off guard.
Paired with his clever movement around the box, Torres always finds himself in good positions to score, which is an extremely valuable set of traits.
Tactical fit
Torres would be joining an attacking unit at PSG comprised of Dembele, Doue, Kvaratskhelia and new signing, Maghnes Akliouche.
Both Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye are expected to leave this summer, which has paved the way for some new forward additions.
Both Akliouche and Torres share similar traits to the rest of the PSG forward unit, comfortability in all attacking zones/lanes and a willingness to work hard off the ball.
Enrique has established a tactical framework where the forwards can all play in different zones, allowing any combination of three to start together.
This creates good competition and ability to rest players/deal with injuries, while also giving PSG the fludity in their frontline that is so difficult for opposition teams to deal with.
Torres’ main role would likely be playing as a false nine, as he did with Barcelona last season.
His understanding of space, when to drop and connect play but also when to make runs beyond and stretch the pitch would be perfect for Enrique’s side.
PSG would be adding a forward who suits their style of play, has already shown strengths that suits the role and understands his role, having been more of a squad player for the majority of his time at Barcelona.