Details of the dinner that sealed Paco Alcacer move to Barcelona
Dinner in Barcelona. Attended by Valencia owner Peter Lim, the club's president Lay Hoon, accompanied by an assessor too. Some sources say Jorge Mendes was present. Barcelona turned up with executives like Raul Senllehi and a director. The relationship between the clubs is very fluid and in an encounter like this Andre Gomes' signing was finalised, although that was in Ibiza. And this encounter was prepared to talk about Paco Alcacer, but collateral was mentioned - Samper, Munir, Diego Alves. A dinner in which Barcelona went out to close the deal with concrete numbers and get the definitive OK from Lim.
Barcelona had done the ground work with Robert Fernandez, but it's true that this time Valencia were unsure about selling Alcacer, unlike with Gomes. Los Che were reticent because of what the striker means for the club. Everything was in Lim's hands and the conversation was about the economics. Barcelona were convinced if they made the right offer, they could take the player.
And Valencia liked the offer. Lim agreed to the transfer. There are still some other fringe matters to sort, like the transfers of other players and the payment set-up. Barcelona, in this meeting, also asked about Diego Alves - a player Valencia need to let go to reduce their salary level. That goes for Alcacer too. It's not easy for Valencia to do the maths with the salary cap shrinking for them, and they're forced to sell players the fans won't be happy about.
After the dinner, everything seemed set. The player is absolutely under Barcelona's control, but it's not been made official like Andre Gomes' was so instantly. The transfer of players from Barcelona to Valencia still needs to be worked out. The next day Lim flew to London and was photographed there. He was negotiating the transfers of Mustafi (Arsenal) and Abdennour (Everton). Valencia fans grew angrier and protested. It endangered the Alcacer deal, but Lim continues to think that his obligation is to sell. The offer is more than reasonable and this chance to clean up the club's wage bill is one he can't miss.
