Barcelona have now slashed their asking price for Ferran Torres following transfer interest from Arsenal. The Camp Nou club are in desperate need of raising cash come the summer.
That is according to Sport, which reports Barcelona will now welcome any offers for Torres in the off-season. Blaugrana president Joan Laporta considers the 23-year-old as a sellable asset in a bid to satisfy La Liga and Financial Fair Play by making space on their wage bill.
Laporta and Xavi have agreed that just six of the Catalan club’s players will not be deemed available for transfers. But Torres has not done enough to convince Barcelona to mark him as a fundamental star. He has only scored five and assisted one goal in 32 games this term.
Are Arsenal interested in targeting a transfer from Barcelona for Ferran Torres?
Just two of Torres’ goals have also come during his 21 La Liga outings, of which the winger-cum-striker has only started in nine. He last hit the back of the net in the Spanish top-flight in October, too. His other efforts all came against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League.
So, Barcelona will make Torres available for a transfer in the face of offers of €35m (£31m). They paid Manchester City £46.5m, plus £8.5m in add-ons, for the Spaniard during January 2022. He also penned a £62k-a-week contract to 2027 with a €1bn (£889m) release clause.
The fee the Blaugrana spent for the 35-cap forward effectively ruled out a move during the recent January window. 90min reported that Arsenal had approached Barcelona to discuss Torres’ transfer. The Athletic also cited their interest but it added he did not want to leave.
Torres knew that Arsenal were interested in his transfer from Barcelona during the January window, though, per Dean Jones. The Gunners identified him as a target after they missed out on Mykhaylo Mudryk. Edu spearheaded the club’s talks to improve Mikel Arteta’s side.
La Liga has left Joan Laporta desperate to raise cash at Camp Nou this summer
Barcelona lowering their valuation of Torres might tempt Arsenal to revisit their interest in a forward Pep Guardiola called ‘incredible’. La Liga president Javier Tebas has left Laporta frantic to raise funds. Spain’s top-flight has in effect blocked the club from making signings.
Tebas said, via quotes by the Daily Mail: “As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in their budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window. Barcelona have been involved in questionable behaviour which has had an impact on La Liga and we are acting accordingly.
“We have ruled that they can no longer sign more players.” He added: “They have to drop from spending on wages and transfers from €650m (£578m) to €450m (£400m). So, it’s a budget of minus-€200m (£178m).”
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