Barcelona is reportedly lamenting a significant oversight in Nico Gonzalez’s contract with Porto, which facilitated the player’s transfer to Manchester City on deadline day.
When Gonzalez initially joined Porto from Barcelona, his contract included a clause stating that Porto would retain 40% of any future transfer fee. Additionally, Barcelona had secured a buy-back option for Gonzalez in July 2023 at a fixed price of £25 million (€30 million).
According to ESPN, Gonzalez’s recent move to Manchester City has underscored Barcelona’s mistake, as they could have activated the buy-back clause to sell him to City for £50.2 million. Instead, the Catalan club chose not to re-sign him, while Porto paid £2.5 million (€3 million) to invoke a clause that reduced Barcelona’s share of the transfer fee to 20%.Porto explained in a statement: “The club exercised in advance an option to purchase 20% of the capital gains from a transfer for a value of €3 million.”
This transaction, combined with Gonzalez’s transfer to Manchester City, effectively nullified Barcelona’s buy-back option. As a result, Barcelona earned only £11 million (€13.32 million) from Gonzalez’s transfer instead of the £25 million they could have received had they opted to re-sign him.
Gonzalez is now Manchester City’s fourth signing of the winter transfer window, joining players such as Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, and Omar Marmoush. He has signed a four-and-a-half-year contract and will wear the number 14 shirt.
The 23-year-old midfielder began his career at Barcelona in 2021, making 37 appearances and contributing two goals and two assists during his debut season.
Seeking more playing time, he moved to Porto, where he won the Taça de Portugal last year.In his first statement as a City player, Gonzalez expressed enthusiasm about his new opportunity: “This is the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career. I am 23 and I want to test myself in England. There’s no better club than Manchester City for me to do that. There isn’t a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this set-up.”