Torres is touted by many to become Spain's leading light over the next few years, with compatriot ... [+] Pedri also firmly in the conversation.


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Ferran Torres, Manchester City’s young Spanish winger, is developing a distinct reputation thanks to his silky soccer talents. Yet what fans see between the white lines reflects only part of his rounded identity.


While sharpening his skills under coach Luis Enrique for his nation and Pep Guardiola for his club, the 21-year-old has an independent brand—unlike most international teammates his age—strengthened by a commitment to charitable causes.

In one sense, it’s hardly surprising: recognized, international stars such as Torres are magnets to forward-thinking projects. The Spaniard also stays in touch with a dedicated marketing team, Jacaranda, which works closely with his agency company Leaderbrock to harness his profile beyond the field.


Yet to say this has all fallen into Torres’ lap would be off the mark. The wide-man—who can also play as a striker—belongs to a band of socially and environmentally conscious professionals in the modern game. Marcus Rashford’s devotion to providing school meals to disadvantaged children springs to mind, while ex-Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini has built an eco-warrior status.


Speaking of Flamini, Torres is cut from a similar cloth to the retired Frenchman and is one of the ambassadors of Kick Out Plastic, a non-profit campaign striving to end single-use plastics, advocating reuse and promoting sustainable alternatives. This topic is also close to Flamini’s heart.






Torres is doing his bit to reduce plastic pollution and inspire the younger generation to do the ... [+] same.


Kick Out Plastic



Kick Out Plastic is a relatively new campaign, starting only last year, and it has a distinctly Spanish feel. Other ambassadors include Barcelona playmaker Pedri, Sevilla midfielder Joan Jordán, Villarreal wing-back Alfonso Pedraza and Athletic Club defender Unai Nuñez. Omar Mascarrell from Schalke and Real Madrid Femenino player Ivana Andrés, the only female player representative, are also part of the team. The group has followed the path of its president, Marcos Senna, a former international for Spain.

Torres was among the first onboard the project and has taken to it naturally. And much of his work has brought him home. In July, following the European Championship, he attended a beach clean-up in Valencia alongside a group of youngsters.

In a global soccer context, its current cohort of ambassadors is relatively limited. That said, a smaller number suggests Kick Out Plastic demands shared responsibility and is not merely a bandwagon on which to jump. One of the non-Spanish team members is Ralph Gunesch, a retired center-back who once represented St Pauli, a German side known for social activism.

Only three weeks have passed since areas of London, like Leicester Square, became awash with plastics and other litter ahead of the Euro 2020 finale, demonstrating the relevance of collectives that oppose material pollution within soccer circles and communities generally. The scene illustrated what Torres and his partners repel.

“From the first moment we presented the project to him, Ferran showed that he was very interested and ready to participate,” Hector Peris, his agent, informs me.

“We knew that Ferran was going to love the idea because he is a lover of nature and animals. These days, there are few people with greater power than in society than sportspeople and more yet when we talk about world-class soccer players like Ferran.”





Torres' status grew last season, finishing the season strongly for Manchester City after a slow ... [+] start to life in England.


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“If you add that Ferran is youthful, at just 21 years old, then he can understand and connect with the next generations. Ferran knows what he wants and how people his age communicate, and so youngsters see him as a reference.”

Torres’ environmental conscience is similar to that of Pedri. The 18-year-old soccer diamond heralds from the well-visited island of Tenerife and senses the importance of maintaining a natural environment in a popular touristic area.

However, unlike Pedri, Torres’ sensibilities extend specifically to animals, so much so that he now partners the U.K.-based charity Wild at Heart, a foundation committed to saving neglected dogs. Torres, for one, had to leave his dog with his sister in Valencia when leaving his hometown to become a Premier League player in England.

His altruistic ties coexist with high-stakes professionalism. Nowadays, it’s hardly surprising to see such young talents, many of whom are teenagers, soaring through academies and bursting onto the senior soccer scene. Yet players like Torres remain in the embryonic stages of their careers too, under pressure to deliver in games such as the Champions League final, which he and his club teammates reached last time around.

Torres was a standout squad member at Valencia, someone treasured by Los Che but destined for a transfer away. An initial €23 million ($27 million) move to Manchester followed—a steal at that price—and he is now fighting for prominence, shoulder to shoulder with a group of high-profile names. Next season could see him stake his claim for a more regular starting berth in the attack. Much of that depends on whether City spends richly to replace Sergio Agüero, however.

But not all of Torres’ attention is on soccer—he even revealed in an interview with La Vanguardia that he should watch more of it on television (Spanish). Given the intensity of his coach’s training sessions and his other engagements, that may not be a bad thing, though.

Source: Forbes

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