Dortmund put the finishing touches to signing Barcelona full-back

Fort edged towards the exit after slipping out of Hansi Flick's plans, with the German instead turning to academy product Xavi Espart to fill the right-back berth.

The main sticking point remains the fee and how it would be paid. Barcelona want between 15 and 20 million euros, a reflection of the player's first-team experience.

Another formula is on the table. It would see the deal completed for a sum north of 10 million euros, with Barcelona keeping a sizeable slice of any future sale and inserting a buy-back clause. In Germany, they talk of a figure closing in on 50 million euros.

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Fort has racked up around 30 appearances for Barcelona's first team since making his debut on 13 December 2023, when the Belgians beat them 3-2 in a Champions League clash with Antwerp.

Last season he went out on loan to Elche, where he impressed across 17 matches. Injury interrupted his run, though. A dislocation of the left shoulder before Christmas kept him off the pitch for four months. He returned at the end of the campaign and his performances helped keep the team up.

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Should his move to Dortmund go through, Fort will play under Croatian coach Niko Kovac, who worked as an assistant to Hansi Flick at the start of the 2019-2020 season with Bayern Munich.

The pair enjoy a good relationship. They exchanged praise during their European encounters in 2024-2025, when Flick was in charge of Barcelona and Kovac of Borussia Dortmund.

Fort joined Barcelona at the age of seven, arriving from the Penya Barcelonista Anguera academy, and grew up in a purely Catalan environment. That makes his potential departure both a sporting and an economic step.

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