Barcelona have given Samuel Umtiti a four-and-a-half-year contract extension, allowing them to finally register Ferran Torres after his transfer from Manchester City.
Barca signed Torres from City this month for an initial £46.7m, with the Spanish international asking to leave the Etihad after failing to settle in Manchester. He later suggested his plan was always to use City to secure a transfer back to one of the 'great clubs' in Spain.
However, Barcelona couldn't initially register Torres in their squad with La Liga because of strict financial restrictions placed on them due to their large amounts of debt that wouldn't allow them to keep Lionel Messi in the summer. A number of senior players accepted pay cuts to allow the registration of new signings in the summer like Eric Garcia, Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero.
Now, Barca have used the same method to register Torres, confirming that defender Umtiti's contract has been extended to June 2026 on a reduced salary than his original contract that expired in 2024. The club say they have not committed to any greater financial outlay by renegotiating the deal for a player they've been keen to sell in recent years.
However, the deal does allow Barcelona to 'increase its Financial Fair Play quota' and therefore register Torres with the Spanish Professional Football League.
When Torres was unveiled at the Nou Camp last week, he said he was assured the registration issue would not be a problem, while president Joan Laporta admitted they took a risk when signing Torres as they knew they didn't have the means within FFP to initially register him.
As a result of the revelations, City had been linked with a quick re-signing or loan move back to the Etihad as part of the deal, should Torres have been unable to play for his new club this season. That was always extremely unlikely, though, and Barcelona look keen to make Torres the face of their new generation of talent after placing a 1bn-Euro release clause in his contract.
He could now make his debut later this month, with manager Xavi's initially earmarking this week's El Clasico with Real Madrid as a possible debut after three months out injured. However, while Torres is getting closer to a return, he has suffered a setback as he missed the weekend's draw at Granada after testing positive for Covid-19.
