Barcelona made embarrassing Nico Gonzalez contract error which has cost them millions after Man City transfer

Barcelona's almighty contract error for former player Nico Gonzalez has come to light after he signed for Manchester City in a €60 million (£49.8 million) switch.

City completed a £175 million January spending spree with the deadline day capture of Gonzalez, who has signed a four-and-a-half year contract.

The signing of the Spaniard is an attempt to fix City's pressing midfield issues without compatriot and Ballon d'Or winner Rodri and comes after the arrivals of Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush.

City will spread the fee over a period of time with payments, while reports say Jorge Mendes' Gestifute agency will also receive 10 per cent of the sum.

But Barcelona are also entitled to a sell on fee, having sold him to Porto for €8.5 million in 2023.

When they offloaded him, the Blaugrana inserted a buy-back option in the deal - though Dale Johnson of ESPN has disclosed the key mistake the Catalan outfit made.

Barca had the opportunity to bring him back for €30 million but at the same time Porto had the right to halve the sell on clause and get rid of the buy-back clause.

Nico Gonzalez has signed for Manchester City from Porto. Image: Getty

They chose to do so, meaning Barcelona only got €10.32 million from the sell-on clause in the end.

Yet had the buy-back clause been in place and Barca not accepted a payment of €3 million, they could have brought him back for €30 million and then made €30 million by immediately selling him.

City were linked with a number of holding midfielders after Rodri's injury, including Atalanta's Ederson, Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad and Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes.

But they settled on Gonzalez, who they hope will help improve the balance of the team ahead of a huge Champions League two-legged play-off with Real Madrid.

Discussing his transfer, the La Masia academy product told the official City website: “This is the perfect opportunity for me at this stage of my career. I am 23 and I want to test myself in England. There’s no better club than Manchester City for me to do that.

“Look at the squad they have here. It’s unbelievable, full of world-class players. There isn’t a footballer in the world who would not want to be part of this set-up. I know the reputation Pep has and I cannot wait to work with him. In fact, I am honoured he wants me to play in his team.

“I am truly excited. I just want to meet my teammates, and the staff here and then I want to play in front of the City fans!”