Aleix Vidal will be a Barcelona player from next season. The Sevilla player has signed a five year deal in the past few days. Vidal will arrive as a versatile right-back and it’s most likely that the transfer will be announced after the Champions League final and before the date for this summer’s elections are revealed, which should be Tuesday.
The Catalan player, who is currently with the Spanish national team, has said he is OK join the club this summer. He will train with his new teammates, but will not be able to play until January because of the transfer ban FIFA currently have Barca under. However, Vidal understands that this is an enormous opportunity for his career.
Barca will pay Sevilla 10 million euros and there will be no add ons. There was speculation that the fee would be reduced by the inclusion of Denis Suarez, who is on loan in Andalusia, but that was not the case in the end. What is possible, although hasn’t been spoke about yet, is that Sevilla could loan another player from Barcelona. They like Sergi Samper a lot, but haven’t yet initiated any sort of conversation.
It was important for Barca that this transfer did not disturb their Champions League preparations. For that reason, and in agreement with Sevilla, it will not be made official until Sunday or Monday. It’s not been ruled out that Vidal could then be presented this week, before Josep Maria Bartomeu announces the date for elections.
And it looks like the incorporation of Vidal will be the only deal that closes before then. There are other negotiations open, but nothing closed. The club’s big desire is to sign Paul Pogba, something they have been working on in recent weeks.