Manchester City interest in Braga forward Francisco Trincao pushed Barcelona to accelerate his transfer, say reports.
It was confirmed on the final day of the January transfer window that the Catalan giants had agreed a €31m deal for the young forward, who would remain at Braga until the end of the campaign.
The Transfer Podcast, via the Manchester Evening News, claims that the English Premier League champions were interested in the 20-year-old before the Blaugrana closed the deal.
It follows a report in RAC1 that super-agent Jorge Mendes has made €9.3m from the deal which took the player to the Camp Nou.
The report states how Mendes usually takes a 20% cut of the transfer fees that he negotiates but he will make 30% of this move, which has already raised eyebrows.
The 20-year-old only made his debut for the Portuguese side last season and has only started seven matches for the club across all competitions.
Trincao has risen through the ranks of Portugal’s youth teams and is currently an Under-21 international, with his potential earmarked by the Catalan giants.
He will remain with Braga for the remainder of the season before joining the Blaugrana on a five-year contract this summer.
This season, Trincao has established himself as an increasingly important part of the team, playing 21 times, with a recent winner against Sporting CP being his fourth goal of the season while he has also provided six assists.
He is a flexible attacking player who is predominantly left-footed and is said to be technically gifted and fleet of foot, making him tricky from either flank.
He is thought to be the replacement of Carles Perez – who has joined Roma – in Barca’s squad.
