Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have reached an agreement in the region of €50m (£42.7m; $57.6m) for the transfer of Ferran Torres.
The Athletic reported on Wednesday that PSG were close to agreeing a deal with Barcelona for the 26-year-old.
The Spanish club have confirmed that the deal will involve no add-ons, that documentation between the two clubs is still to be exchanged and that the transfer will soon be made official.
Torres is coming off a successful World Cup campaign with Spain. He was primarily used as a substitute by head coach Luis de la Fuente and scored the winning goal in the 106th minute of the final against Argentina last month at MetLife Stadium.
In July, The Athletic reported doubts over Torres’ future with the La Liga champions. Barcelona were open to selling the forward due to the fact that any renewal of his contract would require a payment of around €8m (£6.8m; $9.2m) to be made to Manchester City, owing to a clause in the deal which saw him join Barca from City for an initial €55m plus a further €10m in add-ons in January 2022.
The financial ramifications of giving Torres an increased contract meant that Barcelona sporting director Deco was reluctant to work on a new deal, according to sources familiar with the situation, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment publicly.
Senior club sources, meanwhile, said the club is open to a sale to avoid him potentially leaving on a free transfer next summer, when his contract expires.
Spain forward Torres scored the winning goal in the 2026 World Cup final (Justin Setterfield via Getty Images)
Torres played regularly in Barcelona’s back-to-back title successes, including featuring 49 times last season in all competitions, scoring 21 goals. He has scored 65 goals and provided 23 assists in 207 appearances for Barcelona and won three league titles with the side.
Barca have been active in adding to their front line, signing England winger Anthony Gordon from Newcastle and Karim Adeyemi from Borussia Dortmund, but Torres’ impeding departure will mean that both of their centre-forward options would have left the club, with Robert Lewandowski joining the Chicago Fire in MLS.
The club have heavily targeted Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez, with the Argentina international expressing a desire to join Barca, but Atletico are not willing to sanction his exit.
A good deal for everyone?
Analysis by Barcelona correspondent Pol Ballús
At this point, this is the best outcome for all sides.
Ferran Torres gets a big move at a great time in his career, after scoring the winning goal at the World Cup final for Spain last month, maximising his value. His moves and public statements over the last few weeks cast doubt on his Barcelona future, and the fans will not be too affected by his departure.
Last week, Torres travelled to the United States during his holidays and carried out multiple interviews where he was very open about his future plans, did not commit to Barca and urged the club to make a move and show that they wanted him.
The words did not sit well with a fanbase that feels as though it has seen it all from Torres over the past four years, going from an underwhelming €55m signing at the start of his Barca tenure to a very capable back-up forward under Hansi Flick.
The move would allow Barcelona to cash in on Torres and avoid handing him a big contract, something Deco was reluctant to do as he believed it could have impacted the salary harmony in the dressing room. But it leaves plenty of work in the club’s senior offices.
Robert Lewandowski left by the end of June, after the expiration of his contract, and now Ferran Torres is close to exiting too. None of the last two seasons’ strikers are at the club now, which puts even more pressure on Barcelona’s search for a new number nine. There is growing pessimism over the signing of their primary target, Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid, but what is clear now is that Barca will need to do something, and there are only three weeks left in the transfer window.
