Barcelona Reportedly Set to Meet Man City's €55 Million Price for Ferran Torres

FC Barcelona are reportedly nearing completion of a €55 million transfer for Manchester City’s Ferran Torres. The primary obstacle remains Barcelona freeing up enough room in their wage budget to finalize the deal.

It has been reported that officials from Barcelona and Manchester City met in Sevilla on Tuesday to finalize the transfer. The deal will be for an initial fee of €55 million with €10 million in add-ons.

For the move to go ahead, Barcelona will have to significantly reduce their current wage bill. La Liga implemented financial restrictions that capped Barcelona’s spending limit at €97 million and the club is currently saddled with €1 billion in gross debt.

Barcelona is currently well above their €97 million spending limit, but they’re allowed to spend 25% of any savings. Sergio Aguero's retirement due to a heart condition opened up significant wages, but they will still have to sell or offload players in January to bring Torres in.

The club has been trying to find new homes for Samuel Umtiti, Neto, and Philippe Coutinho, but are willing to listen to other players including Serginio Dest.

Torres was purchased by City from Valencia CF in 2020 for €23 million. At 21, Torres has performed well in the limited game action he has received in England. Across two Premier League seasons, Torres has played 17.9 full 90s, his total minutes played divided by 90, and netted 9 goals and 3 assists.

Initially deployed on the right wing in Spain, Torres has been used as a central forward for City. His performance for Spain on international duty has been even more impressive. Excluding friendlies, across 15.6 90s he has netted 12 goals and 1 assist.

Torres’ versatility should make him an excellent long term fit for Barcelona. He is comfortable pressing, excels in link-up play, can carry the ball past defenders, is a fine finisher, and his age suggests plenty of room for growth.

Ferran Torres - New Barca Player pic.twitter.com/UjOBSOWqGu

— . (@SComps_) December 22, 2021

According to FBRef.com, his top three statistical comparisons for forwards are Gabriel Jesus, Lautaro Martinez, and Kelechi Iheanacho.

According to Transfermarkt.com, Torres has a market value of €50 million. His low purchase price from Valencia wasn’t a product of performance, but was rather due to Valencia’s own financial struggles.

Barcelona still has a long way to go to secure Torres. Finding a new home for Umtiti, Neto, and Coutinho will be difficult due to their wages. Umtiti earns €208,000 a week, Coutinho earns €146,000, and Neto earns €65,000.

There are few, if any, clubs in Europe that will want to pay any of the trio’s current salaries. Barcelona may be forced to explore loan options where they foot a large percentage of their wages. In all likelihood, for Barcelona to bring Torres to the Camp Nou they’ll have to sell one of their core players.

Torres has been out since October due to a foot injury. He is expected back sometime in January.