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Liverpool Target David Otorbi as Valencia Raises Release Clause to €60m

· 5 min read

Valencia has moved to make David Otorbi a more expensive target after Liverpool reportedly told the club and the winger’s agent it wanted to activate his €30m release clause. The Spanish side has exercised a three-year contract extension, lifting the clause to €60m. That doubles the reported price attached to an immediate move, and it changes the calculation for any club considering a bid.

The extension also gives Valencia more room to decide how it handles the teenager’s development. A release clause sets a contractual route for a transfer; it doesn’t, by itself, show that a buying club has agreed personal terms or that a move is certain to happen. The reported approach therefore matters, but the key detail is still how Liverpool responds to the new figure.

What Valencia’s contract move changes

The report from Tribuna Deportiva says Liverpool communicated its intention earlier this week. Plaza Deportiva reports that Valencia triggered the extension before Otorbi reached the appearance threshold for an automatic renewal; his salary will also rise. The club is expected to announce the change soon.

Acting before the appearance threshold is reached suggests Valencia wanted to secure the contractual change on its own timetable. The salary increase is part of that adjustment, although the reports don’t provide its size or further terms. For a young player whose senior career is still developing, a longer deal can give the club greater security while offering the player improved pay.

The jump from €30m to €60m is the clearest signal. It makes a move harder to price and could deter a club that saw the original clause as an accessible way to act quickly. But the clause is only one part of a transfer decision: a club would still have to judge the player’s readiness, role, and fit with its plans. The numbers here are striking; what they don’t tell us is whether Liverpool was prepared to pay the original amount.

A young winger drawing Premier League interest

Otorbi, 19, came through Valencia’s academy and made his first-team debut in January 2024. He has appeared 13 times for the senior side, including eight matches this season. His only goal so far was the equaliser in a 2-2 draw against Racing Santander earlier this month.

Those appearances give interested clubs a small but meaningful sample of his senior football. They don’t yet offer the long record that would make it easy to judge how consistently he can contribute. For a winger, assessment can involve more than goals: clubs may consider how he carries the ball, creates danger, works without possession, and adapts to different opponents. The available details here don’t settle those questions.

His agent, Nacho Gallart, said several clubs had contacted them in recent weeks, particularly from the Premier League. Newcastle United scouts have also watched Otorbi in person, according to a report covered by Sport Witness on October 13.

Contact from multiple clubs can indicate that a player is being monitored, but it isn’t the same as a formal offer. Scouting is often an early step: clubs gather information before deciding whether a player belongs on a shortlist or fits a particular need. If you're working in this space, that distinction matters. Reports of interest can build a picture of competition around a player without showing how far any club is willing to go.

Liverpool’s recent work in Spain

Liverpool has been active in the Spanish market, signing Víctor Muñoz from Osasuna during the summer window. Its scouts were in Spain to watch Harvey Elliott, who is on loan at Mestalla, and club officials met Valencia manager Javier Aguirre and sporting director Braulio Vázquez.

That activity provides context for the reported Otorbi approach, though it doesn’t prove that every visit or meeting was connected to him. A club can watch one player while also maintaining relationships and collecting information about others. Those contacts may make it easier to follow a young prospect, but they don’t establish that Liverpool has decided to pursue him at any price.

Those visits put Liverpool in contact with Valencia, but the reported clause move would have taken the pursuit beyond scouting. With Valencia now raising the figure to €60m, the club has sharply changed the terms attached to Otorbi’s contract. The next indication of Liverpool’s intent will be whether it continues to pursue the winger under the revised clause.

What happens next

Valencia’s action gives the club a stronger contractual position if interest develops into a transfer attempt. It also raises a practical question for Liverpool: does Otorbi remain attractive at the higher clause, or was the reported interest tied to the original €30m figure? There’s no answer in the reports cited here.

And yet, the new clause doesn’t end the story. Clubs can continue to monitor a player, revisit a target later, or decide the price no longer fits their plans. Valencia, meanwhile, has moved before an automatic renewal threshold and increased Otorbi’s salary, two steps that show it wants greater control over the situation.

This is more significant than it looks because it turns a reported scouting interest into a clearer test of intent. The next useful evidence won’t be another general report that clubs are watching Otorbi; it’ll be whether Liverpool acts after Valencia’s change. For now, the teenager’s record remains brief, the interest remains reported, and the clause has doubled. A changed asking point, and an open question.

Source: Naveen Ullal · sportwitness.co.uk