Monday, January 10, 2022 at 12:23 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 12:36

Barcelona have managed to sign Ferran Torres into LaLiga, the Catalans reported via the official channels. This is made possible by Samuel Umtiti, who extends his contract by three years until mid-2026. The 28-year-old centre-back agrees to spread the salary he would earn over the next year and a half over his new contract: Umtiti therefore earns nothing. extras with its extension.

“This contract extension operation does not entail greater financial obligations for Barcelona in relation to the player,” Barca said. The surprising deal with Umtiti reduces the club’s monthly salary costs. That, coupled with the departure of Philippe Coutinho, who has been loaned to Aston Villa, makes it possible for Barcelona to sign Ferran. This means that the club complies with the strict Financial Fair Play rules that apply in Spain.

Barcelona publicly thanked Umtiti “for his willingness and affection he has shown for the club”. The French mandekker was supposed to leave the club in January, but no interested club could appeal to him, making a transfer impossible. After his serious knee injury in 2018, Umtiti has slipped further and further at Barcelona and only comes into action in case of extreme emergency: just one appearance in the current season.

Due to a corona infection, Ferran is not in the match selection for the semifinals of the Supercopa, which will be played against Real Madrid in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. Barcelona will take Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araújo and Ansu Fati with them, although it is still questionable whether the trio can actually take action due to various injuries. Earlier, Xavi expressed the expectation that Fati will make his comeback against Real.