Man City blow as ‘contract renewal’ threatens deal for £16m Brighton target with new exit ‘clause’
Manchester City and Brighton target Valentin Barco is reportedly set to sign a new contract to commit his future to Argentinian outfit Boca Juniors.
The 19-year-old has emerged as one of the brightest young talents in Argentina and the left-back has already made 22 senior appearances for Boca Juniors.
Earlier this week, it was claimed by The Daily Star that Man City are ‘set’ to beat’ Premier League rivals Brighton in the race to sign Barco.
Juventus are also in the running to sign Barco but Man City are ‘confident’ that they will win the race to acquire his services.
The report added: ‘‘The deal was under discussion at the Etihad at the end of the recent transfer window, but is now likely to be completed in January. The buy-out clause In Barco’s contract is £8 million and City are prepared to pay that up front, meaning they are offering the most favourable terms to Boca.’
But according to TNT Sports in Argentina, a spanner has been thrown into the works. They are reporting that Barco is set to ‘sign a contract renewal after the Copa Libertadores semi-final match against Palmeiras’.
This new deal will be a five-year extension and there will be an ‘increase in his termination clause’. It is claimed that fee for Barco ‘would go from a clause of 10 million dollars to 20’ (around £16m).
It is suggested that interested clubs ‘would have to pay this amount to immediately take’ the defender.
In truth, this increased release clause is unlikely to put off Man City and you would still expect them to sign Barco at some point over the next year.
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If Barco heads to the Premier League champions, he will join Kyle Walker, who recently penned a contract extension of his own.
Walker was linked with Bayern Munich before he signed a new contract and Man City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted that they would have had a “big problem” if the England international had left in the summer.
“After Gundo and Riyad, losing Bernardo (Silva) and Kyle would have have been a big, big problem,” Guardiola told reporters.
“It’s not about the quality – the skills you can find quite similar, or different players can help you – but there are some things in the locker room that are so difficult to replace.
“These guys have a lot of experience in the important moments of important games. You know exactly how he’s going to respond in the bad moments.
“It would have been a big loss. That’s why as a club of course we fought for him to stay with us.”
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