While the rest of Hansi Flick’s squad worked through the last of pre-season together, one of Barca’s own has been doing his running on a separate patch of grass. Mundo Deportivo report that Hector Fort has spent several days training away from the main group, waiting for somebody to resolve a future that has already been decided for him. He is 20, he came through La Masia, and he is not in the manager’s plans. In Germany, they have noticed: a Hector Fort Dortmund move is now the most likely ending to his Barca story.
The reporting has firmed up considerably in the last 24 hours. Mundo Deportivo say the right-back sits top of Borussia Dortmund’s shortlist, a position Sky Sports corroborated on Monday. What nobody has settled yet is the one detail that decides everything: whether the Bundesliga club buy him, or borrow him.
The Hector Fort Dortmund shortlist, and why he tops it
Dortmund need a right-back, and Mundo Deportivo report their shortlist runs to three names: Fort, Chelsea’s Josh Acheampong and Torino’s Marcus Pedersen. Per Sky Sports, relayed by the same outlet, it is Fort they want most. Barca Universal, citing SPORT, describe him as the standout candidate in the search and confirm that direct conversations between Dortmund and Barca have already taken place.
The appeal from Fort’s side is not hard to read either. Both reports state the player views the move favourably: Dortmund offer a top-five league, Champions League football and, crucially, the prospect of playing every week. He spent last season on loan at Elche and returned this summer to find the queue in front of him unchanged, with Jules Kounde established at right-back and Eric Garcia among the alternatives Flick already trusts.
The sticking point: €15-20m, or a loan
This is where it stalls. Mundo Deportivo report that Barca value Fort at between €15 million and €20 million. Barca Universal, via SPORT, say Dortmund have roughly €10m earmarked for the position and would rather not spend heavily at all, preferring a loan or some other financially manageable structure. Sky Sports’ reading, per Mundo Deportivo, is that with two weeks of the window left Dortmund lean towards a loan unless further sales of their own generate the financial fair play room to do it properly.
So there is a gap, and it is not a small one in percentage terms. What makes this different from the club’s other outstanding exit sagas is that Barca have flexibility here, and appear willing to use it.
What Barca want to protect
Mundo Deportivo report that Barca are conscious of Fort’s potential and do not want to lose control of a homegrown player. The consequence is a genuinely sensible negotiating position: the club could lower the transfer price in exchange for retaining a percentage of his future rights, or a buy-back option.
That is the same instinct behind the club’s wider approach to the academy, where La Masia sales have been priced as assets rather than clearances. It is also a notably softer landing than the one being arranged for Marc Casado, whose move to Benfica or Nottingham Forest Barca want done permanently, and at a profit. Flick has already shown this summer that he will make these calls early, having sent an academy trio back to Barca Atletic rather than carry them.
What happens next
Nothing has been agreed. Barca Universal are explicit that no final decision has been made, and the structure remains the only real obstacle rather than the willingness of any party. With the window closing on 31 August, the Blaugrana turn to the Joan Gamper Trophy against Al Ahly on Wednesday and then the LaLiga opener against Elche — the club where Fort spent last season on loan, and where he would once have expected to be pushing for a Barca place by now. If Dortmund find the money, or Barca find a formula, he will watch that one from somewhere else entirely.
