Barcelona youngster Pau Curbasi is worth more than ten Premier League squad teams after a whopping £423m (€500m) release clause was written into his contract in May.
Despite interest from Chelsea and Spurs last summer, the 17-year-old centre-back will remain with the Catalan giants until 2027 unless a club is prepared to fork out the staggering sum. It follows Curbasi's contract renewal in May, with Fabrizio Romano previously reporting that the buy-out clause was expected to be £855million (€1billion).
However, the finalised release clause for the talented defender ended up being £423m (€500m), still a figure likely to deter any potential suitors. Last summer, Chelsea were reportedly eager to secure the young talent, with Spanish media claiming they had 'pushed to sign' him despite him not having made a first-team debut for Barca.
Spurs also reportedly showed interest in the Spaniard when his release clause was a more manageable £13million - a sum easily within reach for top Premier League clubs. However, with the now astronomical fee, it seems Curbasi will be staying put at Barcelona after turning down the opportunity to leave and breaking into the first team.
The Espanyol-born player rose through the youth ranks at Girona before switching his loyalties to Barcelona in 2018. He made his professional debut for Barcelona Athletic (Barcelona B) in 2023, and this year he made his first-team debut at Camp Nou, playing 19 times for his club in La Liga alongside Ronald Araujo, reports Football London.
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In a surprising twist, Curbasi was left out of Spain's final squad for Euro 2024, with Aymeric Laporte, Nacho Fernandez and Robin Le Normand all being chosen over him. However, this doesn't seem to have affected the team, who topped their Euro 2024 group with victories over Croatia, Albania and Italy and will face Georgia in the round of 16 on Sunday.
Pau Curbasi is worth a fortune (Getty Images)Release clauses are not only popular in many countries, but they are also mandatory in Spain - and have been for about 40 years. This is due to player welfare rights and prevents a club from holding onto a player against their will. While some players may have more reasonable release clauses - for instance, Ousmane Dembele only has one of £42m (€50m) - some of La Liga's top stars have astronomical prices to keep them in Spain.
It's reported that Jude Bellingham has a staggering £855m (€1billion) clause at Real Madrid, while Barca prodigy Pedri has the same jaw-dropping figure in his contract. Here, The Mirror looks at all of the Premier League squads that Curbasi is worth more than.
Ipswich Town - £40.62m
With Ipswich just being promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, it comes as little to no surprise that the Tractor Boys haven't exactly got a bank-busting squad on their books. Their most valued player is left-back Leif Davis at £7.62m (€9m), while Conor Chaplin £5.9m (€7m), Harry Clarke £4.2 (€5m), Nathan Broadhead £4.2 (€5m) and George Hirst £3.39m (€4m) make up the club's top five valued players.
Southampton - £121.7m
Despite only being vacant from the top flight of English football for a year, Southampton offloaded a tonne of talent when they were condemned to the depths of the Championship. Nathan Redmond, Fraser Forster, Shane Long and Harry Lewis all left the club on frees, while Oriol Romeu went to Girona for £4.6m (€5.5m). And while the club still have the likes of £12.7m (€15m) star man Che Adams and £16.95 (€20m) Kyle Walker-Peters, they're a long way off in terms of the bigger clubs.
Southampton have just been promoted to the Premier League (Getty Images)Leicester City - £169.76m
It comes as little surprise that Leicester held the highest squad value of the championship in the 2023/24 campaign with the likes of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£25.4/€30m), Wout Faes (£16.95/€20m) and Wilfred Ndidi (£13.5m/€16) on the books, but with depleting market values in Jamie Vardy (£847,000/€1m) and Jannik Vestegaard (£2.5m/€3m) they'll be playing catch-up this summer.
Fulham - £274.85m
There's no doubt that Fulham have some top-tier talent in their ranks, consistently building year in, and year out since finding Premier League stability once again. Joao Palhinha, Alex Iwobi and Issa Diop have a combined value of more than £84.7m (€100m), and that's not even scratching the surface of the squad. Still a far cry from the buy-out clause for Curbasi, though.
Everton - £296.12
It would be easy to assume that Everton have a far higher squad value than they actually do - after all, they've never left the Premier League and they have a number of top talents in the likes of Amadou Onana, Beto, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dwight McNeil who could each bring in a small fortune should they sell. However, Transfermarkt have their squad valuation at £296.12m (€349.4m) - over €150m less than Curbasi's asking price.
Calvert-Lewin is worth £18.6m (Getty Images)Wolves - £296.45m
Wolves may have £46.6m (€55m) man Pedro Neto, £38.1m (€45m) Matheus Cunha, £29.6m (€35m) Joao Gomes and £29.6m (€35m) Rayan Aït-Nouri among their incredibly strong squad, but they're only £330,000 better off than Everton according to Transfermarkt. It will be interesting to see who Gary O'Neil brings to Molineux this summer to bolster last year's 14th-place finish.
AFC Bournemouth - £325.83m
The Cherries have never particularly had a team filled with world-beaters - but a select number of star players keep their reported value in good stead. The likes of Ilya Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi, Alex Scott, Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke are all worth their weight in gold to the club, but on the whole, the squad is still worth less than Curbasi.
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Nottingham Forest - £328.2m
It's no secret that Forest splurged when they made it back to the Premier League in 2022 after winning the playoffs, bringing in Morgan Gibbs-White, Taiwo Awoniyi, Danilo and Neco Williams for more than £16.95m (€20m) each - but their squad value sits with centre-half Murillo, Ibrahim Sangare and Anthony Elagna. Still though, not a patch on Curbasi.
Forest aren't exactly strapped for talent (Getty Images)Brentford - £351.62m
When you think of Brentford, you probably jump straight to star striker Ivan Toney - and rightly so given his reported £42.3 (€50m) market value at the time of writing. However, there are a number of other players who bolster the London club's market value. Bryan Mbeumo is said to be worth £33.9m (€40m), Yoanne Wissa £23.7m (€28m), Nathan Collins £21.1m (€25m) and Aaron Hickley £23.7m (€28m).
West Ham United - £372.57m
West Ham United would arguably have a squad value exceeding the €500m buyout set for Curbasi should they have kept a hold of Declan Rice, who made the move to Arsenal last summer for £100m. And they still teeter on the verge of matching the Barca starlet's value, with players like Lucas Paqueta at £55m (€65m), Jarrod Bowen at £42.3m (€50m), Edson Alvarez at £29.6m (€35m) and James Ward-Prowse at £25.4m (€30m).
Crystal Palace - £374.35m
Finally, Curbasi is said to have a higher market value than Crystal Palace's squad altogether - despite Eberechi Eze's valuation of £46.6m (€55m). Fellow England star Marc Guehi adds £32.2m (€38m) to the club, Joachim Andersen £29.6m (€35m), Michael Olise £46.6m (€55m) and Adam Wharton £25.4 (€30m). Still, though, they fall just short of Curbasi's €500m buyout clause.
*All figures based on Transfermarkt valuations for 2024
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