$12,965,042 is the market value of the Montevideo City Torque squad, Barcelona SC’s rival in the Copa Libertadores; club belongs to the group that owns Manchester City

Barcelona Sporting Club will face Montevideo City Torque as a visitor this Tuesday, in the year that marks the 55th anniversary of the start of the duels between the Canary Islands and the Charrúa clubs for the Copa Libertadores de América.

And although Torque is not one of the traditional representatives of the eastern country, the sky-blue team is considered one of the most solid institutions of professional football in Uruguay.

Owner of a first-rate infrastructure for the work of minor divisions and for the training of the main team, the bullfighters’ adversary is quite young. As its official website says, “it was founded on December 27, 2007 under the name of Club Atlético Torque, by Raúl Aquino, in Montevideo.” That is to say, it will be a contest between a squad that at the end of 2022 will celebrate fifteen years of being founded against another that is heading towards its centenary of existence (Barcelona will turn 97 on May 1).

But unlike Barcelona, ​​which has more years of experience, more national and international relevance, a greater number of titles obtained, and without being able to compare the ability to attract fans from one and the other, City Torque has an advantage that explains the reasons of its institutional strength.

manchester city

That has to do with your business support. “On April 6, 2017, the acquisition by the City Football Group was confirmed. In this way, Torque joins Manchester City, New York City, Melbourne City, Sichuan Jiuniu FC, Mumbai City, Yokohama Marinos and Girona FC, clubs that are also owned by the multinational group.

It is detailed that “the City Football Group (CFG) is a company holding company which manages association football clubs under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).

It is partially owned by Chinese and US companies China Media Capital, CITIC Capital and Silver Lake.

And while the popular Ecuadorian team has played in the Ecuadorian championship since its inaugural edition, in 1957, and has never lost the category in the tournament, it was only “on February 3, 2018 that Torque played its first match in the first division, nothing more and nothing less than against Nacional in the mythical Centenario stadium, and on June 10, 2018 he played his first final in the professional first division, coinciding with the same rival and scenario as in his debut”, remarks the new City Torque on his website.

Another notable difference between the teams that are measured today in the first round of the preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores 2022 is related to the current cost of their respective squads.

The cost of the campuses

According to the specialized site Transfermarkt (which has a database with more than 833,000 players, 1,150,000 match records, market values, agents and much more), the value of the Montevideo City Torque squad as of today is 11,350,000 euros ( $12,965,042).

On the other hand, as well as in other orders, in that line Barcelona surpasses its opponent on Tuesday. Transfermarkt rate to the 2022 campus directed by Fabián Bustos at 16,850,000 euros (19,247,662 dollars).

The same portal, used worldwide as a reference on the transfer cost of soccer players, places the youthful Nicolás Siri (17-year-old striker) as the player whose pass is the most expensive for City Torque: 1.6 million euros (1′ $827,671). Siri is followed in cost of his file by the midfielder Marcelo Allende, 22, with 1.5 million euros (1,713,442 dollars).

Castle, the best quoted

In Barcelona there is a player better valued economically in the market than any of those from Torque, always with Transfermarkt as a reference source. This is Byron Castillo, elected the best right back in America in the traditional newspaper poll The country, from Montevideo; and the best in his position by Conmebol during the last Libertadores. The unofficial value of his transfer is set at 2.5 million euros (2,855,736 dollars).

Castillo, 23, is followed in ranking of prices of Transfermarkt Argentine midfielder Emmanuel Martínez, 27, with 1.2 million dollars (1,370,220 dollars). (D)