Mundo Deportivo: Barcelona Change Strategy for Selling Academy Players, Keeping Buy-Back Rights and Sell-On Clauses

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona adopted a different strategy this summer when handling La Masia players who could not enter the first team, selling them while retaining future sell-on percentages and including buy-back clauses for some players.

During this transfer window, Barcelona's approach to handling La Masia players attracted attention. These players could not enter Hans-Dieter Flick's first team, nor could they continue playing for Barcelona Atlètic in the Segunda Federación.

Most cases were only resolved close to the end of the transfer window. Although Flick already knew all the players, the German coach still wanted to observe each player during pre-season before making final decisions. Jofre Torrents, Tommy, Espart, Guille, Toni and Álvaro Cortés had all received guidance from him at different stages. In fact, except for Guille Fernández, all of them made their first-team debuts during Flick's tenure.

Retaining future revenue shares

The club made it clear from the beginning that completing transfers was the primary objective. Barcelona hoped to obtain income that would help meet financial fair play requirements and improve the club's financial situation, while always retaining a degree of control.

All transactions included future sell-on percentages, with different rates. Jofre Torrents, Toni and Álvaro Cortés have a 50% share of future sales, Guille has 40%, and Tommy's percentage is slightly lower.

The buy-back clauses were set according to the transfer fee amounts. Braga paid €11 million for Tommy, plus €3 million in add-ons, so Barcelona did not include a buy-back clause. However, Barcelona retained buy-back rights for Guille, Toni and Jofre Torrents, with all of them becoming effective from 2028, the second year after the transfers.

If buyers are willing to pay a higher transfer fee, the two sides will negotiate. This is the principle established by the technical department led by Deco: the higher the transfer fee, the lower the future sell-on percentage retained by Barcelona.

Mundo Deportivo previously reported that Jofre Torrents' buy-back price is €14 million. The buy-back prices for Guille and Toni will also be between €10 million and €15 million.

The Catalan club has expectations for the development of all the players and also hopes Álvaro Cortés will continue to improve. The latter may currently be the most mature player, having already become an undisputed starter at Royal Antwerp. He is expected to develop into a high-level professional player.