Manchester City striker Ferran Torres is on the verge of completing a big-money move to Spanish giants FC Barcelona. According to The Athletic, the Spaniard will return to his native country after a year-and-a-half with the Premier League champions, whom he joined from Valencia. The confirmation of his transfer is yet to arrive, but it will mark the first big move of the January transfer window.
As per the report, Barcelona will pay Manchester City a fee of 60 million euros, divided into 55 million upfront and five million in future add-ons. The Premier League champions stand to make a profit of nearly 40 million on the attacker, whom they signed from Valencia in summer 2020 for 23 million.
Barcelona have informed the youngster that he will be a key part of new head coach Xavi Hernandez’s plans going forward, as the returning club legend continues to build the team in his image. Frustrated with his game time at the Etihad Stadium, the forward will be allowed to make the switch back to Spain, given City’s inclination of selling players who want to move on.
However, his impending transfer will leave the Citizens depleted in the attacking department; before his injury – which has seen him spend the last three months on the sidelines – Torres had been playing center forward for Pep Guardiola’s side, due to their failure to bring in an out-and-out striker.
Interestingly, Torres will fill in for Sergio Aguero at the Catalan club, whose departure from City in the August left the club scrambling for strikers in the market – and who has since been forced into early retirement due to a cardiac complication.
Overall, in his 18 months in Manchester, Torres made 43 appearances and scored 16 goals – and was a Premier League and League Cup winner for the season 2020/21.
