A player that can leave you speechless every time you watch him play is a player that is destined for a big future. Already featuring for one of the big clubs in the La Liga, at the age of just 18, suggests that his club shares my confidence in him. However, he is still technically part of the Atletico Madrid B team. Although, I feel that more game time for the first team will be on it’s way in the upcoming 2013/2014 season.
Torres has drawn interest from some of the biggest clubs in football including an English trio of both Manchester clubs and Chelsea. Just more proof that my opinion is shared by many.
Profile
Oliver Torres Munoz is his full name in his native country of Spain. Born in the town of Navalmoral de la Mata which is near Madrid. He was signed by Atletico Madrid when he was just 13 years old and has steadily progressed through the ranks all the way to the reserve team. Although, not actually featuring against Real Betis towards the tail end of the 2011/2012 season, he did earn himself a place in the squad before making any appearances for the reserve side.
After completing a summer full of international games for Spain U19 he returned to Atletico Madrid and actually registered some game time for the first team. He replaced Adrian Lopez midway through the second half in a La Liga match against Levante. But, as expected, the majority of his game time was spent in the reserve side. He featured a total of 21 times for the reserves and a further 10 times for the first team.
The youngster is currently competing in the U20 world cup, for Spain, but he has featured for the U19’s and U18’s along the way. However, he hasn’t registered a goal across any of the age groups.
Abilities and style of play
Oliver Torres is predominantly an attacking midfielder but has been known to play a more central role. At 5ft 10in, he’s not a small player in terms of height as such but he has quite a small frame. Although, having a small frame does have it’s benefits because it means he’s slightly more agile which is perfect for a player in his position and the country that he plays his football in. Spain are well known for producing attacking midfielders that are ‘small’. Silva, Cazorla, Mata and Iniesta are players that can compete at the very top without every really needing to big and strong. The same goes for Torres and many others.
Torres is a very positive player that will always look to carry the ball forward, a player that doesn’t pick the perfect pass but the most effective one. However, when he does force the issue, he can do it to devastating effects. A main reason behind this ability is the fact that Torres is very accurate when it comes to long range passes, even his short passes are extremely accurate as well. Coupled with his brilliant passing range, he also has the vision to execute passes that very few players would be able to spot.
I would like to revisit my earlier comment on his fantastic agility because it ties in with further abilities of his. For example, he’s very good at carrying the ball past players and in very tight positions as well. This is where his agility ties in because he can glide past players with relative ease and it’s in the tightest of situations when it looks the best. He’s as quick with his feet as he is with his mind. A deadly attribute to have.
One big criticism of his play is that he doesn’t directly contribute to the team in terms of goals and assists. He’s often the player that will provide the pass which sets up an assist. He’s only scored three times this season. Players like Mata, Cazorla and Iniesta are always directly contributing to the team.
Conclusion
Oliver Torres is undoubtedly a fantastic talent who can go right to the top of Spanish football. He is definitely a player to keep your eye on if you haven’t heard of him. In terms of a potential move away, he isn’t a well known player as such but Atletico will definitely want to keep hold of him. £10-15 million should be sufficient at the moment but it’s highly likely that his price tag will increase very soon. The player also seems settled but that doesn’t stop a whole host of clubs going in for him.
Is he worth the risk? Yes! Atletico Madrid have an incredibly gifted player at their disposal who should, if given game time, turn more and more heads. If he does leave Atletico Madrid then his arrival at another club will definitely excite the fans of that club. I know he’ll excite me!