Premier League: Ferran Torres nets hat-trick as Manchester City pip Newcastle in seven-goal thriller

Pep Guardiola suggested Ferran Torres could fill Sergio Aguero’s boots as Manchester City’s leading striker next season after the Spaniard scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 win over Newcastle on Friday.

With a third Premier League title in four years already sealed with three games to spare, Guardiola again took the chance to hand a number of his fringe players an opportunity to shine two weeks ahead of the Champions League final.

Torres made the strongest case to be involved against Chelsea in Porto on May 29 with a trio of fine finishes to take his tally for his first season in England to 13 goals.

The 21-year-old, who also scored a hat-trick for Spain against Germany earlier this season, was bought by City in August off the back of his impressive performances for Valencia as a winger.

But with City’s all-time record goalscorer Aguero leaving the club at the end of the season, Guardiola talked up Torres’s ability to fill the void left by the Argentine.

“It’s his first season in England and his numbers are exceptional,” said Guardiola. “When he has played, he’s had a sense of goal.

“This is a smell of a striker, to know where the ball arrives one second before.”

Guardiola also handed 35-year-old goalkeeper Scott Carson his…

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