Eyebrows were raised when, in the injury absence of Alvaro Morata, Luis Enrique did not name a recognised striker in his Spain squad for the Nations League finals.
There are similar cries of derision being aimed at Pep Guardiola for not lining up an alternative striker to sign after Manchester City's protracted summer pursuit of Harry Kane failed.
But maybe, just maybe, those two Champions League-winning managers know something us mere mortals don't.
They clearly both see a potential in Ferran Torres to develop into a top class striker and are actively helping him do this season, to great effect already.
Ferran Torres (No 11) is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring for Spain against Italy
Torres' two goals in Spain's 2-1 win at European champions Italy were not ordinary finishes. They were lethal executions you'd expect from a top class striker.
The first saw Mikel Oyarzabal's cross fired in towards the penalty spot. Torres was not on his heels as you'd expect from a false nine. He made the run you'd want your striker to make - the sort that Kane would make.
Alessandro Bastoni came within inches of cutting it out but, rather than expecting the defender to clear it, Torres expected the mistake, as all good strikers do. When it came to him at an awkward height he did not hesitate, didn't attempt to take a touch, instead guiding a volley past Gianluigi Donnarumma before the goalkeeper had time to pick up the flight of the ball.
The second goal was just as impressive. Again, a cross from Oyarzabal, and again the run you'd hope for from a top marksman, not a player supposedly playing out of position as Torres found the space at the back post.
This time, the finish was even more sublime, Torres guiding a looping, curling header back to where it came from, leaving Donnarumma rooted to the spot as the ball just snuck inside the post.
The 21-year-old guided home a right-footed volley expertly to open the scoring for Spain
Torres' header left Gianluigi Donnarumma stranded for Spain's second goal in Milan
If Guardiola was watching, he would have been impressed. Torres could be the striker his team is missing.
Gabriel Jesus is flourishing in a wide-right role these days and has spoken about preferring it to playing through the middle, while Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling are also fighting it out for those positions on the left and right of City's front three.
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