Thursday, June 13, 2013

Barcelona set sights on Chelsea youngster Loftus-Cheek and make first Torres move

Barcelona are back on the trail of young Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The 17-year-old impressed the Spanish club's scouts with his performance during the recent friendly with Manchester City in New York.
Chelsea placed the England youth international on a lucrative contract following interest from Barca and rivals City earlier this year but that has not deterred the Spaniards who are keen to strengthen their own youth ranks after losing players to English clubs in recent seasons.
Barcelona have also held initial talks over a £20million move for Fernando Torres.
Coach Tito Vilanova has earmarked the Spain international as a striker who could fit into their budget as they prepare to overhaul their squad.
Barcelona are willing to listen to offers for 11 of their squad including Tottenham target David Villa and Thiago Alcantara who is wanted by Manchester City and United.
They want to re-establish themselves as Europe's top side while also offsetting the £52million outlay on Brazil international Neymar.
Torres is surplus to requirements at Chelsea and has an outstanding record against Barcelona throughout his career. He is a favourite of president Sandro Rossell and is one of four names being considered.
He has scored more than 20 goals in just two of the last five seasons, including a paltry ten in 2010-11, the season he made his £50m move from Liverpool to Chelsea.
He did manage, however, to score more than 20 last season for the first time since his time at Liverpool in 2009-10, although he finished 31st equal on the Premier League scoring charts with just eight goals, 18 behind top goalscorer Robin van Persie.
Torres is currently on international duty ahead of the Confederations Cup in Brazil and is set to hold talks with new manager Jose Mourinho on his future at Stamford Bridge when he returns to England later this month.
He was an unused sub in Spain's 2-0 friendly win over the Republic of Ireland in New York last night, but did feature in the 2-1 win over Haiti at the weekend.
Meanwhile, Chelsea's former Barcelona midfielder Oriel Romeu, 21, is wanted on loan by Celta Vigo. Romeu is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury.

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