Brighton & Hove Albion have successfully secured a deal with Boca Juniors for the transfer of Valentín Barco, with only the formal announcement pending.
The Argentine club's board member, Raul Cascini, expressed disappointment over the impending departure of the 19-year-old.
Contrary to earlier reports of rejected bids, it appears the Seagulls activated Barco's €10 million release clause to finalize the deal. In an interview with ESPN's SportsCenter, the player himself shed light on the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Argentine side.
Having risen through the ranks of the club's youth system, the rising star entered the first team in 2021, featuring prominently last year with 35 appearances across all competitions, contributing with a goal and four assists.
His contract with Boca is set to expire in December 2024, and he clarified that leaving as a free agent was not his intention.
“I had the dream of playing in Boca’s first team, I stayed again in the middle of the Libertadores, they wanted to execute the clause and I told my representative no.
“Now they came back and I think the best thing to do is to continue growing, everyone’s dream is to play in Europe. I wanted to leave a percentage to Boca, we negotiated at all times, since there was no agreement, we decided to execute the clause.
“I always told my representative from the beginning that I didn’t want to execute the clause. Boca was the club that gave me everything from the beginning, I’m very grateful. By not reaching an agreement and on my part thinking that the best thing is to emigrate to continue growing, we decided that.”
About the breakdown in negotiations with Boca Juniors, Barco provided insights into the reasons behind the unsuccessful discussions:
“They had time to present a formal offer, I thought they were going to present it at that meeting and they said that I had to present it.
“We said we were going to answer, we called for three days in a row and they didn’t answer the phone, I was surprised, since if ‘You are interested, at least you answer the phone’. Afterwards the offer went from club to club, Brighton presented it, not my agent.”
Moreover, on January 11th, TyC Sports revealed that the 19-year-old successfully underwent medical tests with Brighton. Additionally, it was noted that he is expected to join The Amex in February, following his participation in the pre-Olympic tournament with the Argentina U23 squad.
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