Ferran Torres officially completed his move to PSG earlier today, with the Spaniard bringing his four-and-a-half-season Barcelona career to a close.
With less than a year left on his current deal with the Catalan club, Ferran chose not to renew and left to reunite with Luis Enrique in Paris.
The duo have worked together previously in the Spain national team, and Ferran now has the opportunity to lead the line for the two-time European champions.
Now, according to La Vanguardia, Ferran’s exit will free up approximately €20 million in salary space for Barcelona, giving the club considerably more room to work on new additions.
Barcelona gain €20 million in salary space
The financial impact goes beyond simply removing Ferran’s wages from the books.
Barcelona will receive €48.8 million from PSG for the 26-year-old, while his departure is expected to create additional salary space.
Ferran has signed for PSG. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
For Barça, that combination makes the operation particularly valuable. The club are currently working on expensive additions, most notably Rodri.
There is also the case of Julian Alvarez, which seems to be going nowhere despite the Blaugrana making him their priority striker target.
Barça sell Ferran at the right moment
From Barcelona’s perspective, the timing of the operation is difficult to argue against.
Ferran’s market value has risen considerably following two productive seasons and an outstanding World Cup with Spain.
Rather than selling when his position was weaker, Barça have managed to secure a significant fee at a time when his stock is at its highest.
Despite the contract situation not being in the Catalan club’s favour, they still managed to squeeze every penny from his sale.
A good sale for Barcelona. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
For a club that have historically not been great at selling players not named Neymar Jr., that is quite an achievement.
The salary space needs to be used well
Considering the transfers Barça have completed this summer, in the form of Ferran and the loan deals of Ronald Araujo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, there is every chance of the Catalans being active in the final few weeks of the transfer window.
There iare still the Rodri and Joao Cancelo operations that need to be seen over the line and, beyond that, it is anyone’s guess as to who Deco could move for.
Signing a new striker is a priority, whether it is Alvarez or some other player. With Ferran’s exit, Barça have lost both their No. 9s in the senior squad in the space of months.
It remains to be seen how Deco looks to allocate the salary space from Ferran’s sale and who eventually joins Barcelona before the summer window closes.