Manchester City are ‘willing to put more’ than is required on the table to secure the signing of youngster Valentín Barco from Boca Juniors.
That’s according to El Grafico, who say Manchester City want to buy the player now, but his intention is to remain where he is for the time being.
The newspaper reports that after a previous bid from Brighton was rejected, another important suitor in the form of Manchester City has now stepped forward for the player.
They are ‘willing to put more’ than is necessary on the table to secure Barco’s signature, with the player having a $10m release clause but City willing to pay $14m.
They are happy to do so as that figure would help them to pay off a ‘so-called protection rule’ in the player’s contract that is activated if a foreign club tries to buy him with less than 20 days remaining in the transfer window.
Manchester City will also have to ‘pay taxes’ for the transfer too, which would take the deal to $17m, $14m of which would end up in Boca’s pockets.
In that scenario, Boca would have little power to keep Barco and any transfer will be determined by the player himself.
That’s where things could become complicated as Barco’s desire is to play through the Copa Libertadores with Boca and then only move on after. This was something he expressed before the bid from Brighton arrived.
Thus, it remains to be seen if Manchester City are willing to buy him now but leave him at Boca to participate in the rest of the cup as he would like.
