Barcelona face legal challenge over ‘bad faith’ summer transfer

Robin Bairner

15 Dec 2025 08:16 GMT
4 min read

Joan Laporta, Barcelona, 2025/26 — © IMAGO

Barcelona are facing a lawsuit over the sale of Pablo Torre to Real Mallorca in the summer, with Racing Santander having approached La Liga with concerns over the conduct of the deal.

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The LaLiga 2 club claims that Barcelona made the deal for €4.95 million with the aim of “harming Racing’s economic interests”, according to a report from La Vanguardia.

It is added that Racing believe they are entitled to receive capital gains from the Catalan club.

Current ETV

Pablo Torre

AM, M (C)

Mallorca

Pablo Torre

AM, M (C)

Mallorca

ETV Range

€6.6M - €9M

Barcelona are said to be surprised by this development but not particularly concerned because the conditions for paying Racing a further lump sum were not met.

The Blaugrana signed Pablo Torre in a €5m deal that might have risen to €20m had certain conditions been met. Ultimately, Mallorca were paid €1m in bonuses.

There was also a sell-on clause in the transfer agreement, but this stipulated it would only be active should Barca make a profit on the player. After selling him for €4.95m, the Camp Nou side have, in fact, made a small loss.

This is an operation carried out in bad faith to harm a third party

- Racing president Manolo Higuera

However, Barcelona have retained 50% of the player’s rights, as well as a buy-back option and a sell-on clause.

“This is an operation carried out in bad faith to harm a third party,” said Racing president Manolo Higuera, whose argument stems from the manner in which Barcelona have structured their sale.

“We have sent a burofax to Barcelona informing them of our position. The contract provided that the jurisdiction to resolve the dispute would be LaLiga’s arbitration board, and we are going to take the matter there, claiming what we believe is an economic right over that transfer.

“This is an operation carried out in bad faith to harm a third party.”

Barcelona in a strong position

While it will be up to La Liga to decide upon Racing’s claim, Barcelona look like they are standing on firm ground from the perspective of the fee that was agreed with Mallorca.

Back in July, when Pablo Torre’s move was agreed, the player’s Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) sat at €4.8m – meaning Barcelona actually sold him for a little more than he was worth.

The 22-year-old has since played on 17 occasions for Mallorca, with three assists in 791 minutes of action. Although he is waiting on his first goal for his new club, his ETV has risen to €7.8m.

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