Barcelona considering swapping misfiring forward for Atletico Madrid winger

Atletico Madrid’s signing of Memphis Depay from FC Barcelona involved a nominal fee of €3 million. The real cost, however, was hidden in the crypts of the contract.

As part of their bid to sign the Dutch phenom, Atletico Madrid came to a transfer agreement with Barça for Yannick Carrasco. The Belgian is indeed still a Rojiblanco and could don the same colours next season as well. However, Barcelona have the option to sign him for just €15 million come June.

The Catalans, however, are reluctant to shell out that figure and see it to be overkill. Given the Colchoneros’ need to sell players, Barcelona are trying hard to bring down the €15 million price tag.

According to reports from Achraf Ben Ayad, Barcelona are even considering involving Ferran Torres as part of an exchange deal with Atletico Madrid to facilitate the Belgian winger’s arrival.

Barcelona signed Torres from Manchester City for a fee of €55 million in January 2022. However, the Spaniard has struggled to live up to the expectations so far and is merely a bench player under Xavi Hernandez.

The 23-year-old has started only 12 of the Blaugranas’ 30 league games this season and made 26 appearances. In that duration, he has scored four goals and provided one assist.

Carrasco, meanwhile, has three goals and two assists to show in his 28 league appearances this season in addition to 1.1 key passes per game.

Atletico Madrid have held an interest in signing Torres for a while now. And if any party were to win through the potential swap involving the Spaniard and Carrasco, it would be Diego Simeone’s side. After all, the Spaniard is the younger, and more dynamic of the two.

Considering the players’ profiles and transfer values, it would not be surprising if the Catalans demanded a fee in addition to Carrasco for Torres’ signing. The coming weeks could shed more light on the plans at Spotify Camp Nou.