Barcelona Faces La Liga Investigation Over Alleged 'Bad Faith' Transfer Scandal
Racing Santander has filed a formal complaint with La Liga against Barcelona, alleging that the Catalan club deliberately structured a transfer to avoid paying a sell-on clause related to midfielder Pablo Torre's departure.
In 2022, Barcelona acquired Torre from Racing for €5 million ($5.9 million), with an agreement that Racing would receive a percentage of any future transfer profits, which were anticipated to be substantial at that time.
After three seasons and 27 total appearances, Torre moved to Mallorca this summer for €4.95 million, meaning Barcelona recorded no profit on the player and therefore owed no additional compensation to Racing under the sell-on agreement.
Per AS, Racing suspects this outcome was deliberately orchestrated, claiming Barcelona manipulated the transfer structure to circumvent paying any sell-on fees.
In their formal complaint to La Liga, Racing contends that Barcelona's true valuation of Torre is €10 million, pointing to the buy-back clause value negotiated with Mallorca during the 22-year-old's summer move.
Club president Manolo Higuera reportedly stated at a recent shareholders' assembly: "They arranged the transfer to circumvent payments to Racing, effectively depriving us of our rightful compensation.
"We seek no conflict with Barcelona, but we must protect our legitimate interests."
Expectations surrounding Torre were considerable when he arrived at Barcelona in 2022. He was hailed as "the future Pedri" despite being merely five months younger than the Spanish sensation and was allegedly pursued by Real Madrid as well.
Following a short period with Barcelona's B team, he earned promotion to the first team and featured in 13 matches during the 2022–23 campaign, before being loaned to Girona the subsequent season to gain consistent playing time.
Though he accumulated 29 appearances, Torre only earned five starts across all competitions and returned to Barcelona determined to prove himself. He served as a useful squad player under Hansi Flick last term and netted three La Liga goals, but it became evident he would face challenges advancing in the hierarchy.
With financial pressures mounting during the summer, Barcelona opted to sell Torre to struggling La Liga side Mallorca, while securing their position with a buy-back provision that Racing views as potentially deceptive.
Torre has recorded 17 appearances for Mallorca thus far, rotating in and out of the starting eleven while still seeking his inaugural goal.