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FC Barcelona has confirmed the signing of midfielder Miralem Pjanic for the following four seasons and for 60 million euros, plus 5 in variables, an operation that completes the sale of Arthur Melo to Juventus in Turin for 72 million plus another 10 in variables.
«FC Barcelona and Juventus have reached an agreement for player transfer Miralem Pjanic. The cost of the operation will be 60 million euros plus 5 in variables. The player will sign a contract with the club for the next four seasons, until the end of the 2023/24 season, with a termination clause of 400 million, “FC Barcelona announced in a statement.
The Barça-Juventus barter consists in selling the Catalans to Arthur Melo, 23, who in 2018 cost Barça 31 million euros, for that minimum figure of 72 million (maximum 82 million) and buying Miralem Pjanic, from 30 years, for 60 million computable from the next campaign.
Pjanic has been part of Barça’s wish list in recent years, for his creative and associative play from midfield, where he can play as midfielder, inside or even an early organizer. Now, in his football maturity, he can finally try to demonstrate his profitability.
The ‘pianist’ Pjanic will now play his keys in Barcelona, where being a midfielder is not easy due to the constant comparisons of fans and surroundings with key figures of the entity such as Pep Guardiola, Andrés Iniesta or Xavi Hernández.
It will be presented in Barcelona with 103 assists and 73 goals throughout his career, being a player for Metz, Olympique de Lyon, Roma and Juventus. After testing Ligue 1 and Serie A, it will be the fields of LaLiga Santander that see Pjanic give Leo Messi a game.
At his side, canterana magic like Riqui Puig, the veteran of Sergio Busquets, the versatility of a Frenkie De Jong who must still win the stripes, and the strength, if they do not leave the club, of Arturo Vidal or Ivan Rakitic.
Previously, the Blaugrana club had announced the sale of Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo to Juventus in Turin after the agreement reached for his transfer, estimated at 72 million euros fixed plus another possible 10 million in variables. Arthur, who was presented as the ‘new Xavi’ and who had to take the baton of midfield and the Blaugrana game, will end this season at the Catalan club but will shortly seek to illuminate Europe from Turin.
At the Camp Nou, which welcomed him with open arms in the summer of 2018 and more after seeing his first appearances on the pitch, they are already preparing to welcome a ‘veteran’ such as the Bosnian Miralem Pjanic, who will pack for make the same trip in reverse. At 23 years old, Arthur has gone from more to less, He has lost the ‘spark’ that was intuited and that he came to show and has been slowing down his game, perhaps due to several injuries that have weighed him down or due to the lack of confidence of the technicians in him.
From moving the ball quickly and judiciously, in more than one game, he has gone to seasick the partridge. To trot with the ball, without losing it, but without sending it to a dangerous destination for the rival. Despite this, this season, at the level of goals (3) and assists (3), was being the best. The expectations created, with that comparison with Xavi Hernández for his physique and for protecting the ball with his body and impossible turns for larger markers, have not been accompanied by performances at the height of expectations anyway. Pubic injury, perhaps the most serious of the almost ten that she has had as a Blaugrana, at the end of 2019 everything changed. Also the departure of Ernesto Valverde, because with Quique Setién he has had less prominence.
Arthur will remain in Barcelona until the end of the campaign. Precisely, Setién has asked him to honor the club and to play the rest of the matches in that fight to revalidate the League and for the ‘Champions’. We will see if he will have minutes or not and if he will take the opportunity to send a message to whoever his former team will be in spite of still wearing his clothing. The Brazilian midfielder, so far, has played 72 games with the Blaugrana shirt –47 in LaLiga, 10 in the Cup, 13 in ‘Champions’ and 1 in the Spanish Super Cup – and scored 4 goals, to conquer a League and a Spanish Super Cup in the 2018/19 season.
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