Barcelona are in over £1bn of debt which forced them to bring players in on loan and sign free transfers over the summer, but El Chiringuito de Jugones (h/t Sport Witness) say the Catalans can afford to agree personal terms with one player they’re being linked with – Ferran Torres.
Barca aren’t short of forwards in the first-team with Ez Abde, Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho and Yusuf Demir, but Torres might be used as a makeshift striker if signed as Memphis Depay and Martin Brathwaite are currently injured while Sergio Aguero has announced his retirement.
Torres joined City from Valencia in August 2020 and has gone on to make 43 appearances in all competitions, scoring 16 goals with four assists. The 21-year-old has scored 12 goals in 21 games for Spain, so he’d be a good asset for Barca.
Torres has only been at City for 18 months but reports say he’s open to a move away. Barca may have the resources to agree personal terms, but do they have enough to match his asking price?
City paid £25.2m to sign the Spaniard, but his market value with Transfermarkt has risen to £45m while his CIES Football Observatory valuation is in excess of €120m (£102m), so Barca would have to stump up a lot of money they don’t appear to have right now.
In other news, Sporting are closing in on £7.2m deal and £13k p/w wages for Pedro Porro