Internal conflict led to Barcelona star’s failed winter transfer window departure | OneFootball

Barcelona were unable to add to Hansi Flick’s squad during the winter transfer window, but while there were no departures, they could have been. A number of first team players were linked with a move away mid-season, but in the end, it was only Barca Atletic captain Unai Hernandez that departed for Al-Ittihad, which was a deal that was not overly welcomed by the club’s board of directors.

Another young midfielder that could have left was Pablo Torre. FC Porto made an approach to sign the 21-year-old on deadline day, but in the end, no agreement was reached – and there were multiple reasons for this.

Flick did not give the go-ahead for Torre to leave as he considers him a valuable player, despite his lack of prominence in recent months. Meanwhile, there was also some resistance on Porto’s side.

Pablo Torre is counted on by Hansi Flick (Photo by MD / FC Barcelona)

As reported by Relevo, there was an internal disagreement at Porto over Torre’s possible signing, which would have been a permanent arrangement. The sporting department wanted the Barcelona man, but new head coach Martin Anselmi wanted a player more in the mould of Nico Gonzalez, who left the club on deadline day to join Manchester City.

That slowed down negotiations, and in the end, the deal fell through without many advances being made. It means that Torre has remained at Barcelona until at least the end of the season, at which point his place at the club is likely to be re-assessed.

Torre has impressed a lot when he has been used by Flick, and because of this, it is no surprise that the German head coach is a big fan of the playmaker. However, he has really struggled for minutes since the likes of Dani Olmo, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong returned from injury, and as a result, his development is being affected.