Man City Newbie Ferran Torres Hits Out at 'Crooked' Valencia and Captain Dani Parejo

Manchester City's new signing Ferran Torres has taken one last swipe at former club Valencia in an astonishing interview, criticising 'crooked people' at the top, and hitting out at 'not very good captain' Dani Parejo.

The young Spaniard was officially announced as a Citizen on Tuesday, signing a five-year-deal with the Manchester club in a transfer worth around £25m.

And having put pen to paper with Pep Guardiola's side, Torres gave a revealing interview to Marca, discussing his time at Valencia, his breakdown in relationships with the club and teammates and much more.

Let's go point by point...

"There Are Club Employees Working to Smear My Image"

The 20-year-old opened up on leaving his boyhood club, admitting he is 'excited and happy' to be joining Man City, but also disappointed that officials within Los Murcelagos wanted him 'to fail' and were 'working to smear' his image.

"On the one hand, excited and happy, but at the same time sad because I'm leaving my club. Valencia game me everything and trained me since I was seven. I've had hard times there and that's why I ended up leaving, but I want to emphasise that I'm very grateful to Valencia and will always support them.

"The problem is that there are people within the club and a few journalists who are determined to damage my image. I don't want to leave on bad terms because I'm a Valencia fan.

"When the club decided to put me in the first team I began to come under pressure and criticism. It wasn't just me, but they wanted to harm my representatives and my family. The same people who now campaign against me said then that I would fail, which hurt a lot at 17.

"But I have to say that there were other journalists who treated me with love and respect. There are, though, club employees working to smear my image."

"I'll Have Shown That I Deserve to Return"

Asked whether he could envisage a return to Valencia at some point in his career, Torres was quick to stress his desire to go back to the Mestalla one day, 'even if there are crooked people', in a pointed attack at club president Peter Lim.

"I'm sure I can. I refuse to think otherwise. Even if there are crooked people. A lot of them won't be there in a few years and I'll have shown that I deserve to return."

"They Literally Said That I Was the Fifth Winger in the Squad"

The talented winger also described when he first considered leaving Valencia, after they put him on the transfer market last summer - and even a second division Spanish side tried to sign him.

"The club told me personally that they weren't counting on me. They literally said that I was the fifth winger in the squad, that reinforcements were coming and other players from other positions were ahead of me. It was a very hard blow for me, but what was worse was that they even put me on the market and offered me to teams in Spain.

"There were calls from 12 La Liga Santander clubs, including Levante and one Segunda Division club. That's when I started thinking about leaving."

"I Wanted Two of the Three, But None Were Fulfilled"

Torres also addressed the possibility of extending his contract at Valencia, and revealed that the club ignored three potential clauses that would have tempted him into staying at the Mestalla - one of which was becoming the captain.

"One was for Peter Lim to be involved so that I knew I was important, another was to be captain as I had seen other clubs do, [Atletico Madrid] with Fernando Torres, for example, and the third was to be one of the highest paid players.

"I wanted two of the three, but none were fulfilled."

"He Wasn't a Good Captain With Me"

Speaking of captaincy, the topic of club skipper Parejo then popped up, and Torres was asked to explain his relationship with the 31-year-old. It's safe to say, neither will be on each other's Christmas card list this year.

"After three years I'm more mature and mentally stronger. But at 17, no. He's a great player but I never had a relationship with him. When I joined the first team at 17, a number of weeks passed before he said a simple 'good morning' to me.

"He wasn't a good captain with me. The worst of it came after Marcelino's departure when [Lee] Kang-in and I were seen as culprits in the dressing room and they stopped talking to us for weeks."

"I Have to Keep That to Myself"

And finally, Torres was asked whether Man City were the only interested party, but the starlet revealed that the Citizens were not the only European heavyweights jostling for his signature.

"Yes, very big teams called but I have to keep that to myself."