🚨 Pep Guardiola on Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick on his Champions League debut for PSG:
🗣️ Pep: “I watched the game and afterwards I sent Ferran a message. I said, ‘Finally, you believe us.’
Because this is the funny thing with Ferran. At City, we saw this player. Barcelona saw this player. He could play wide, play as a nine, arrive in the box, score goals. The talent was never the difficult part.
Sometimes I would tell him, ‘Ferran, you have to enter the box believing the chance belongs to you.’ Because some players arrive hoping the ball comes. The best goalscorers arrive expecting it.
Then he went to Barcelona and you would see moments where you think, ‘Yes, this is him.’ Then maybe two games later he doubts himself again.
I don’t know what Luis told him in Paris, but maybe Luis is better at selling dreams than me. [laughs]
Maybe he told him, ‘Come here and I’ll make you a Ballon d’Or contender.’ And Ferran said, ‘Okay, show me.’
Now look at him. First Champions League game for PSG, three goals. He’s playing like somebody who expects to score every time the ball enters the box.
That’s confidence. The player hasn’t suddenly learned football in Paris.
Luis has just given him a platform and apparently convinced him that all those things we kept telling him for years were actually true.
Sometimes that’s all a player needs.
Although if he wins the Ballon d’or now, I will tell Luis I want some credit because we started the project in Manchester.”