Barcelona receive significantly less than expected €24m from Nico-Manchester City deal | OneFootball

Barcelona were not active during the final day of the winter transfer window, but they still managed to secure much-needed funds. These came courtesy of Manchester City, who signed Nico Gonzalez from FC Porto in a deal worth €60m.

Nico, who struggled to make a significant impact at Barcelona before being sold to Porto in the summer of 2023, was brought in by Pep Guardiola to act as the “replacement” for countryman Rodri Hernandez, who is currently recovering from an ACL injury – he was initially thought to be out for the remainder of the season, but he could return earlier than expected.

Barcelona received €8.5m from the initial sale of Nico, while also retaining a 40% sell-on clause. As such, the expectation was that they would bring in €24m from the deal between Porto and Man City, but actually, that is not the case.

Nico Gonzalez joined Manchester City on Monday (Photo by Manchester City FC)

Sport have gone into detail on the working on Monday’s deal. Prior to Man City completing the signing of the 23-year-old midfielder, Porto activated a clause that saw them acquire an addition 20% of the player’s rights – for this, they paid just €3m.

As a result, Barcelona only retained a 20% sell-on clause, and not only that, it was for capital gain of a future sale, rather than Nico’s rights. In the end, the Catalan giants received €10.3m from the sale itself, meaning a total income of €13.3m – a far cry from the €24m that many expected the club to receive.

Added to the initial €8.5m transfer fee, Barcelona brought in €21.8m from Nico’s departure, which is a very hand amount given the club’s well-documented financial woes. However, there is bound to a feeling of what could’ve been, given that the Spaniard ending up going for €60m.

Nevertheless, this money will be handy for Barcelona going into the summer, which should be busy given that it is their first end-of-season transfer window since returning to La Liga’s 1:1 rule.