Barcelona to pay initial £46.7m for Manchester City forward Ferran Torres; Further £8.5m due in add-ons; Torres currently sidelined with foot injury
Thursday 23 December 2021 07:29, UK
Barcelona have agreed a deal that could total £55m with Manchester City to sign Ferran Torres.
The Spanish side will pay an initial £46.7m (€55m) plus a further £8.5m (€10m) in add-ons. Some £5.9m (€7m) of those add-ons are said to be more or less guaranteed.
It means City will have made at least £27m (€32m) on a player they paid Valencia around £20m (€23m) for in 2020.
They have not paid any of the agreed add-ons to Valencia due to the limited time he has spent at the Etihad.
Barcelona regard Torres as one of Spain's rising talents and have money to spend in January after recently receiving sizeable investment via a bank loan.
Their relationship with City is also strong; City officials including Txiki Begiristain and Ferran Soriano used to work for Barca president Joan Laporta during his previous reign at the club.
Barca have also shown interest in signing Raheem Sterling but City want to keep him and he has recently returned to some of his best form in a City shirt.
Torres, 21, has played only four times in the Premier League this season, scoring twice, and once more in the Champions League.
He has been sidelined since October with a foot injury suffered on international duty with Spain.
Spanish football expert Alvaro Montero says Barcelona are able to finance the deal, and stay the right side of Financial Fair Play, by virtue of agreeing a flexible payment structure with Manchester City.
"First of all, there is a bank credit [loan] for Barcelona signed with Goldman Sachs, and, in the last few weeks, they have leaked to the press they have got some savings. That means a little bit of cash, but not enough to pay that amount of money," Montero told Sky Sports News.
"They have a good agreement with Manchester City, that means good payment conditions. Barcelona will pay for this transfer not in one or two years, but maybe in three, in four, in five years.
"To fulfil this move, Barcelona believe one or two players may leave."
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