Story via CaughtOffside
With Aston Villa having announced the loan signing of Philippe Coutinho on Friday morning per a tweet for their official club account, Barcelona are now free to register Ferran Torres and other players.
The Coutinho deal will surely have come as a huge relief for the Catalans who have been trying to offload the Brazilian for the best part of the last two seasons.
What’s now imperative is that any finance that has been freed by the removal of his salary isn’t wasted.
MORE: United must forget about Ronaldo
To that end, news that the club appear to be seriously considering Anthony Martial, per Sport, would be a retrograde rather than forward looking step.
The Frenchman has done nothing of note over the past 12-18 months to qualify him for a move to Barca.
A loan move to the end of the season, with a potential purchase option, has been mooted, but if he were to arrive, what would that me for the likes of Abde and others, who have been performing well under Xavi.
Martial brings that little bit more experience yes, but his goals to games ratio leaves a lot to be desired.
Transfermarkt note that he has just eight goals in all competitions in the past two seasons.
The Catalans already have players with pace, who are direct and who can beat their opponents at will.
Martial isn’t known for his crossing ability when playing off of the flanks either, so it really does beg the question as to what the La Liga giants see or would gain from bringing the player to the club in what is their hour of need.