Ferran Torres’ PSG goal drought raises familiar Barcelona concerns

Ferran Torres has failed to score in his past eight matches for Paris Saint-Germain, bringing an end to the spectacular form that earned him the Ligue 1 Player of the Month award for September.

The Spain international last found the net against Marseille on 20 September, having previously scored seven goals in six games. His recent decline has come at a time when he was expected to take on greater attacking responsibility because of injuries to Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

Instead, Joudts, Mayulu and Akliouche have carried much of the scoring burden, while Torres has been left on the bench for important fixtures, including last Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Villarreal.

According to Catalan newspaper Sport, Torres’ spectacular opening spell at Paris Saint-Germain has quickly given way to a less convincing period.

He started Saturday evening’s narrow 1-0 win over Troyes and had three chances, as well as another shot which went wide. But the Spain forward was unable to end his latest barren run, which has been attributed in France to a loss of confidence.

A familiar pattern

Although his struggles in Paris may appear surprising, they are familiar to those who followed Torres’ time at Barcelona, Sport reported.

His fast start raised expectations, but he has never been a forward who scores in almost every match, despite possessing a clear ability to find the net.

Torres scored 13 goals in 36 games for Manchester City during the 2020-2021 season. He then registered seven goals in his first full season with Barcelona, followed by 11 in the campaign that followed.

His most productive periods came in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, when he scored 19 goals in 45 matches and 21 goals in 49 games respectively. That equated to roughly one goal every 2.4 matches in the first season and one every 2.3 matches in the second.

Torres also endured lengthy scoring droughts at Barcelona. In 2024, he went 16 consecutive competitive matches without scoring between 21 January and 1 September, a run which included an injury that kept him out for almost two months.

Last season, he failed to score in 14 successive matches before ending a two-and-a-half-month wait with two goals against Espanyol on 11 April. His longest barren spell at Barcelona was 20 games during the 2022-2023 season.

Despite those periods without goals, Torres offers more than finishing. His movement, ability to stretch the pitch, runs into space behind defensive lines and intensity when pressing remain important parts of his contribution.

Enrique not concerned

Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique said he was not worried about the Spain forward’s current form.

“Everyone was worried about Joudts, and now it is Ferran,” Enrique said at his news conference on Saturday. “The forwards are the ones who miss chances and score goals.”

He added: “For me, the important thing is that the forwards continue to get big chances.”