By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Barcelona have agreed a €55 million (£47m/$62m) deal to sign Manchester City winger Ferran Torres.
The Spain international, who hasn’t played for City since September due to a foot injury, is set to join Xavi’s side in January despite the Catalans’ financial troubles.
Barcelona and City have been locked in talks for weeks and have now reached an agreement that will see the Catalan club pay a flat fee of £47m (€55m) with a further £8.5m (€10m) payable in add-ons. It is understood that £5.9m (€7m) of the add-ons are virtually guaranteed.
Ferran Reverter, the Barcelona chief executive, and their sporting director Mateu Alemany visited City’s training base late last month for talks over Torres and discussions accelerated from there.
The new Barcelona regime under Joan Laporta enjoy a strong relationship with the City hierarchy and that has proved a significant factor during the negotiation process.
City were not actively seeking to offload Torres but the player, who has been sidelined for the past three months with a serious foot injury, was keen to join Barcelona and return to Spain in pursuit of more regular football and Pep Guardiola opted not to stand in his way.
Torres hopes to play a significant role in the rebuilding job new coach Xavi has undertaken at Barcelona, who initially were interested in signing England forward Raheem Sterling on loan from City.
Barcelona have been searching for a new forward in the absence of former City striker Sergio Aguero, who announced his retirement this week on health grounds. Aguero was taken to hospital in late October after experiencing chest problems during a game against Alaves.
Meanwhile Real Madrid are monitoring Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez.
The 24-year-old missed most of last season with a knee injury and has been hindered this term by calf and groin issues.
Real feel there is a chance Gomez could leave Anfield at the end of the season as the arrival of Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig has increased competition in the centre of the Reds’ defence.