Atletico Madrid have reportedly offered to sign misfit forward Ferran Torres from FC Barcelona.
Barca paid Manchester City a €55mn ($58.5mn) plus variables fee for Torres' services in the January transfer window of 2022.
While the number '11' was pivotal in securing the Catalans Champions League football for the following season under fellow recent arrival at the time and head coach Xavi Hernandez, he has since fallen down the pecking order.
This has been due to a number of factors such as the arrival of Raphinha from Leeds United and the improved form of Ousmane Dembele.
At the turn of 2023, Xavi has also opted for a four-man midfield system which has fired the Blaugrana to a seven-point lead over bitter rivals Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, winning the Spanish Super Cup at their expense, and a two-legged Copa del Rey semi-final installment of El Clasico set to kick off this week.
The strategy only allows for one pure winger too, which was initially Dembele and then more recently Raphinha as either Pedri or Gavi operate as a false left winger on Torres' preferred flank.
A tantrum that a substituted Raphinha threw after providing an assist and scoring the equalizer against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw at Camp Nou in the Europa League playoffs first leg a fortnight ago injured the Brazilian and paved the way for Torres to start against Cadiz the following Sunday.
Torres took the opportunity to shine with both hands, winning the MVP in the 2-0 win and receiving compliments from Xavi who said he had "taken a step forward".
The Spain international also got the nod for the weekend's shock loss to Almeira, but according to reports in his homeland, the 23-year-old could still be on his way out of Camp Nou at the end of the season.
Popular Spanish football program El Chiringuito claims Atletico Madrid have already made an offer to Barca for him which will be accepted if his performances don't improve.
Torres is said to be a request of ex-Spain manager and potential future father-in-law Luis Enrique, who is expected to replace Diego Simeone in the Atleti dug-out next term.
If this information is accurate, Barca should take the offer considering their financial predicament and a demand from La Liga president Javier Tebas to shave €200mn ($213.1mn) from the wage bill to balance Financial Fair Play.
Selling Torres would be wiser than already giving up on Ansu Fati first, and Eric Garcia should also follow him out of the exit door in a sale that would provide pure profit given he arrived on a free transfer from Manchester City in 2021.
