Aston Villa set for £10.4m transfer boost as midfielder deal agreed - on one key condition
Aston Villa reportedly agreed a significant clause for one of their summer transfer exits.
Enzo Barrenechea is on track to leave Aston Villa permanently as an obligation to buy clause was reportedly included in his summer move to Benfica.
Villa let Barrenechea leave again in mid-July after he completed a successful season-long at Valencia. The defensive midfielder did brilliantly in La Liga throughout 2024/25 and was eyed for a permanent move by Carlos Corberan’s side, but Benfica won the race, bringing him to Lisbon instead.
Yet to make his Argentina debut but called up to their senior squad for the first time last November, Barrenechea has progressed nicely since leaving Juventus to join Villa as part of the mega swap deal which saw Douglas Luiz move in the opposite direction. Samuel Iling Junior, the other player to move to Villa in that transaction, was recently loaned to West Bromwich Albion in the Championship.
Villa expecting £10m cash injection
It was a summer of financial restriction for Villa as they worked tirelessly to comply with a host of strict rules set out by the Premier League and UEFA. Just as was the case in the summer of 2024, several sales had to go through and the Villans were unable to spend freely in the market.
There’s likely to be a financial boost soon, though, as Barrenechea’s move to Benfica is set to earn Villa a tidy profit. Birmingham World understands the deal that brought Barrenechea to Villa Park - dealt with in a separate transaction to Luiz and Iling Junior - cost around £6.9 million. Now, if a Portuguese report is to be believed, Villa will soon bag a £3.3 million profit on that, plus a loan fee.
O Jogo reports - via Sport Witness - that Benfica paid Villa €3 million (£2.6m) for the basic loan and will shell out another €12 million (£10.4m) to make the move permanent once Barrenechea has played 15 matches. So far, the 24-year-old has already made eight appearances for the Lisbon club, taking him over halfway.
Benfica boss Bruno Lage has made Barrenechea a key player from the off this season, handing him 634 minutes across his eight outings to date. The Argentine never made a competitive appearance for Villa, so it’s a real boost to earn a profit. Not only that, but Emery’s side have also negotiated a 30 per cent sell-on clause.