In an intriguing development, Barcelona youngster Pablo Torre is refusing to play with the club’s reserves and has not participated in a single training session with the subsidiaries reports SPORT.
Torre joined Barcelona only this past summer, arriving from lower league side Racing Santander. The teenage midfielder is one of the most highly-rated prospects in Spain and was also on the radars of Real Madrid.
But Barça beat Los Blancos to the attacking midfielder’s signing thanks to the intervention from manager Xavi Hernandez.
Upon arrival, it was expected that Torre would train with the first team but his minutes would be regulated due to the competition for places. So, it was always likely that he was going to play for Barcelona Atletic.
Torre was even registered as part of the B team and not the senior team. However, as per the report, the 19-year-old is refusing to play for Rafael Marquez’s side as he sees it as a step-down.
The midfielder had helped Racing Santander earn promotion to La Liga 2 from the RFEF Primera Division and does not want to end up playing in the same competition with Barça Atletic.
Torre was linked with a loan exit in the summer, with manager Xavi believed to have been open to such an option. Racing Santander were themselves keen on signing him and even offered to pay 40% of his wages, which they further raised to 60%.
However, as per the report, Barcelona director Mateu Alemany blocked the deal. Now with Torre unwilling to play with the reserves and there being little scope for first-team action, he could see very few minutes of game-time in the coming months.
It could prompt Barcelona to consider sending him out on loan in January. It will be interesting to see how the situation develops in the coming weeks.