Because of a strange clause in Marc Bartra's contract, his release clause is temporarily set to just 12 million euro until next Tuesday, when it will go up again to 50 million.
That being the case, several clubs such as Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur and Porto were interested in plucking the young defender from Barcelona at a reduced price.
Bartra, for his part, is unsure of getting minutes next season due to the presence of Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Jeremy Mathieu and now Thomas Vermaelen, who has returned from injury.