"No matter whats." Yes or yes. It is the phrase that has tattooed Ferran Torres (Foios, 2000) and that summarizes his imposing rise in the ranks of the young values ​​of European football. His candidacy for the Golden Boy (the only one born in Spain) is just one more push for a Paterna youth squad who has found his moment in Valencia and in the national team. Yes or yes. So much so that for the CIES Football Observatory, Ferran was already in the middle of last season the soccer player born in Spain under 20 years old with the highest value in the market: 18 million euros, below the clause of 25 that fixed Valencia in a contract that must hurry to renew, because it leaves him free in 2021 . Then came the Copa del Rey and the two goals in the final of the last Eurocopa U19. His ambition to "be a decisive player" was already forged.

Extreme right, fast, dribbling and hitting, he has become one of the leaders of Generation Z of Spanish football. «It is different, and when you train you see the self-confidence». Curro Torres speaks, the coach who took him to the 16-year-old kid at the Valencia branch to play in Segunda B. “He could be too young for the step we made him take, but then you saw him on the field and matched anyone else age », remember.

A goal last January against Sporting in Mestalla (round of last 16 of the Cup) opened the doors of Marcelino's Valencia, placing himself among the five players of his age with more minutes in the big leagues. Few for the environment of the player, who came to look towards other leagues, and for the owner of Valencia, now focused on looking at the quarry. The intention of the Asturian coach to guarantee minutes with an assignment was one of the frictions that the club says contributed to his dismissal. With the arrival of Albert Celades , and especially with a tactical variation that allows shining to pure extremes, Ferran has had an almost constant presence in the eleven, as well as in the selection.

Looking at the Tokyo Olympics

Fixed in the Sub'17, with which he was runner-up in the world, and the Sub'19, has made the jump to the team of Luis de la Fuente with an eye on the Tokyo Games next summer. In Japan they already have news of his football and the magazine 'World Soccer Digest' chose him as the representative of the best players born in 2000. Adidas also has him on his roster of young talents.

The football takeoff of that kid who idolized Villa and traveled to Calderón to see him proclaim himself a Cup champion in 2008 has not contaminated him. Ferran continues to live in Foios, a small town in the Valencian orchard, with his dogs, going to see the games of the town teams and attending the advice of his sister Arantxa, to which he is so attached that he bears his name in the boots. He has had to park his intention to be physical to pursue his dream. And he is prepared for everything because "criticism is just a firecracker in the ass for you to hide."

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