With fixtures coming thick and fast, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez is expected to make the best use of resources at hand, and if a recent report from SPORT is to be believed, young midfielder Pablo Torre is expected to feature in the upcoming La Liga game against Elche.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who was signed from Racing Santander last year, for a fee reported to be around €5 million plus variables, made his third appearance for the Barça Atletic on Saturday, thus earning important minutes under Rafa Marquez.
During his acquisition, it was established that the 19-year-old will only reinforce the Barça Atletic side when the chances of him playing in the senior team are nil. Having played for the reserves over the weekend during the international break, Torre was back training with the first team this week.
Indeed, on Monday, when the handful of senior players returned to training, which included Inaki Pena, Eric Garcia, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Sergi Roberto, Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, Torre was also a part of that group and could stand a chance to play against Elche this Saturday.
Looking ahead to the Elche game, there is absolutely no reason why he should not play at the Manuel Martinez Valero Stadium.
To begin with, the likes of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong are nursing injuries and Xavi might want to give his regular internationals, such as Gavi and Franck Kessie, a much-needed rest in order to avoid excessive fatigue, especially with El Clasico awaiting next.
It must be remembered that Torre has only clocked 27 minutes in La Liga this season. He made his debut back in October 2022, playing a mere 13 minutes in Barcelona’s 4-0 win against Athletic Bilbao at home.
His last appearance came during the 0-1 defeat at hands of Almeria in February where he replaced Sergi Roberto in the 76th minute.
Despite playing limited minutes for the senior team, Torre has opened his goalscoring account, having found the back of the net in the 4-2 win over Viktoria Plzen in his side’s final league stage match of the UEFA Champions League.
