Torres turns 20 in 2020

Saturday is a special day for Ferran Torres, as Valencia CF's number 20 turns 20 years old in 2020. He does so on the day of the team's LaLiga game against Real Betis, and a date that only comes around once every four years.

February 29th is a day characteristic to a leap year, and Torres usually celebrates his birthday on the 28th as a result. One thing that never changes, however, is the design of his cake to commemorate the day.

"I've spent practically every year of my life at Valencia CF or in the VCF Academy, and I've always had a cake with the club crest on it," he told VCF Media this week.

Born in 2000, Torres was given his first ball -with a Valencia CF design- on a leap year birthday in 2004. Four years after that, he was already part of the VCF Academy.

It was in 2008 that he went to see Valencia CF win the Copa del Rey at the Vicente Calderon, whilst following his twelfth birthday in 2012 -another leap year- he had a big growth spurt.

"I grew 12 centimetres taller in a single summer, in just three months," he recalls. "When I came back I seemed clumsy, and had problems being as coordinated and playing like before.·

Adapt he did, and by the time the next leap year came around, in 2016, he was poised to debut with VCF Mestalla.

"I felt better all the time. Going away with the Spain Under-17s was another experience for me. That was a special year," he remembers.

Now in 2020, he has played a total of 86 official games with the first team, and moves out of his teenage years as a regular starter under coach Albert Celades. The VCF Academy product has been a frequent supplier of goals and assists, and is hungry to keep that going in this leap year and beyond.

"I hope to keep up this performance. I have a lot more to give to the team," says Torres, who will have a chance to make his birthday one to remember on Saturday.