La Liga club, FC Barcelona and Premier League outfit, Manchester City have agreed on a fee of up to £55 million to sign Ferran Torres. The Spanish club will initially pay a fee of £46.7 million (€55 million) with an additional salary of £8.5 million (€10 million). Approximately £5.9 million (€7 million) in add-ons are also supposed to be more or less guaranteed.
Manchester needs to make at least £27 million from Torres as they paid Valencia £20 million in 2020 for him. Due to his limited time at the Etihad, City won’t need to pay any of the agreed add-ons.
The 26 times La Liga champions consider Torres as one of Spain’s growing superstars. Barcelona recently received an ample investment in the form of a bank loan which will be used to spend in the January transfer window.
Barcelona is also interested in signing Raheem Sterling, but Manchester wants to hold him as he has recently made a strong comeback in terms of form in the City shirt.
The 21-year-old has featured four times in the Premier League this year and only once in the Champions League. He has been unavailable since October because of a foot injury that he sustained while on international duty with Spain.
According to Alvaro Montero, Spanish football expert, Barcelona will be able to deal with the financial situation while remaining on the right side of Financial Fair Play by agreeing to a flexible payment structure with Manchester City.
He said, “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.”
Torres joined the city club on a five-year deal in August last year for a reported fee of 23 million euros, but former Valencia forward appeared in only 43 games in which he scored 16 times. He has been out since suffering a minor fracture in his right foot during the UEFA Nations League campaign.
Barcelona is currently seventh in La Liga after an unfortunate start to the season that resulted in the sacking of coach Ronald Koeman, who was then replaced by club legend Xavi Hernandez.