Psychologist helped Ferran Torres get out of 'bottomless pit'

Ferran Torres has revealed that he began seeing a psychologist last year to help his mental health. The 22-year-old winger departed Manchester City for Barcelona last January in a $60 million move. His time with Barca, however, has not exactly gone as panned so far.

The Spanish giants finished second in LaLiga last season and were bounced out early in the Copa del Rey and Champions League tournaments. After being transferred to the Europa League, Barca only made it to the quarterfinal stage of the competition. Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt beat Barca at Camp Nou to knock out the Spaniards and advance.

Along with the team underperforming, Torres has also dealt with personal problems as well. He arrived to Barca with a broken bone in his foot and then only scored in three of 18 LaLiga matches in his freshman season in Spain.

‘Everything was affecting me’

“I found myself in a bottomless pit and I could not see a way out,” Torres said said during recent a press conference. “It had never happened to me before. That was the moment when I decided to work with a psychologist.”

“I lost my confidence. Everything was affecting me. Seeing [a psychologist] will become increasingly normalized in football. There are weeks when I don’t go and others when I go three times. We don’t always talk about football, we also talk about my private life.”

“It’s been painful, but at the same time it has been one of the best experiences because now I feel stronger.”

Psychologist helped Ferran Torres and goal obsession

Torres also discussed how he changed his mindset after seeing the psychologist. “I became more obsessed with scoring goals than playing well,” continued the winger. “I wanted to be a player that I am not. I didn’t care if I had bad games, I just wanted to score.”

Despite the fact that he’s not playing as much this season as he would like, Torres certainly seems to be in a better place mentally. “I have always been a player that runs at the opposition and creates. I am usually good in front of goal, too, but I went through a bad spell and I did not know how to manage it. Now I have learned to go out and enjoy myself.”

Torres returns to England on Thursday, as Barcelona plays Manchester United. The massive Europa League matchup will determine which powerhouse club reaches the round of 16 in the competition.

PHOTO: IMAGO / ZUMA Wire