Aston Villa set for £10m windfall as midfielder on brink of sealing permanent exit
Villa are poised to bank around £10million from the sale of Enzo Barrenechea with the midfielder’s permanent exit likely to be sealed later this month.
Barrenechea needs to make only one more appearance on loan for Benfica to trigger the Portuguese club’s obligation to buy at the end of the season.
Villa, who have already received around £2.5m as part of the loan agreement, will then be guaranteed a further £10.5m from the permanent sale of a player who has never made a competitive appearance for the club.
Barrenechea joined from Juventus for an initial £6.7m in June last year, his signing having been part of the negotiations which saw Douglas Luiz leave Villa and join the Italian club for £42.5m.
The 24-year-old Argentine spent the whole of last season on loan with Valencia, who were keen to sign him on a permanent deal.
But Benfica were able to offer Villa better terms and he has enjoyed an impressive start in Portugal, starting 14 matches.
Villa retain a sell-on clause which entitles them to 30 per cent of the profits on any future sale.
The sale of Luiz ensured Villa avoided breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules, with club chiefs later claiming they faced a likely double figure points deduction had the deal not gone through.
Samuel Iling-Junior, the other player signed from Juventus alongside Barrenechea, is also yet to make a first-team Villa appearance and is spending this season on loan at Albion.
