Inter Milan and Barcelona have a deal in place that will see the Italian club buy Rafinha in the summer if one condition is met, according to reports in Spain.
"I Nerazzurri finally snapped up the midfielder on a six-month loan deal on Monday after weeks of negotiations with La Blaugrana", and Sport has now alleged that a clause in the transfer means Inter will have to buy Rafinha if they qualify for next season's Champions League.
A fee of around £30m has been written into the deal that will mean Inter have to fork over that sum of cash if Luciano Spalletti manages to lead them back in the UEFA's flagship club tournament for the first time since the 2014/15 campaign.The agreement between the two European clubs has not been officially disclosed as it would apparently impact on Inter's Financial Fair Play constraints and, if it became common knowledge, that could lead to UEFA disqualifying them from the competition.
That scenario would ensure Barca would not profit from the deal and, as such, the Catalan giants have opted to keep the clause on the down low.
Inter will also supposedly have to pay around £2.6m to Barcelona depending on how Rafinha performs during his temporary spell at San Siro, but, given how much both he and Inter wanted the move to occur, he should play well enough to see his loan turned into a permanent switch.
The 24-year-old was a product of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy but, thanks to a lengthy spell on the sidelines and fierce competition for places, has failed to hold down a regular starting spot in the first team.
Ernesto Valverde's arrival at Camp Nou put Rafinha further down the pecking order within the senior set up, and he has opted to call it quits - for now - and chance his hand at playing in a different league.