FC Barcelona Announce Signing Of €126 Million Player

FC Barcelona have announced the signing of a player previously bought for €126 million ($136 million).

As revealed at around 22.15 CEST by the Catalans on the summer transfer window’s deadline day, through Twitter posts and a short e-mail to the press, Joao Felix has joined the club as part of a loan deal which will run until June 30, 2024.

Though it is obviously not permanent, and there is no purchase option either, Felix has completed what he previously described as a “dream” move.

“I’d love to play for Barca,” the Portugal international told transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano in a mid-July exclusive.

“Barcelona has always been my first choice and I’d love to join Barca. It was always my dream since I was a kid. If it happens, it will be a dream come true for me,” he added.

Barca used photos of news articles, from different outlets reporting his quotes to Romano, for a short clip on Twitter.

At the end of it, Felix was pictured with a Blaugrana shirt saying he was happy to be with them.

“His dream came true,” the video was captioned.

The remarks on pining for a move to a direct rival did not impress Atletico Madrid fans at the time who subsequently booed the 23-year-old.

Irrespective of club loyalties, they were widely seen as a way of Felix engineering his way out of the Spanish capital after Chelsea didn’t make his loan permanent at the end of the 2022/2023 season.

Whether this is true or not, Felix and his agent Jorge Mendes – as well as Barca president and known admirer Joan Laporta – have gotten what they want in the end.

With La Masia graduate Ansu Fati having left on loan to Brighton, and Ez Abde possibly switching to Real Betis, Barca manager Xavi Hernandez doesn’t boast many options on the left wing where Felix is expected to play.

Xavi has shown a preference for playing four midfielders with one a false left winger too, and it will be down to Felix to convince his new boss that he should opt for a 4-3-3 with two natural widemen instead.

It is currently unclear whether Felix will be registered in time and ready to play for the Catalans in Sunday’s La Liga match with Osasuna.

If not, we will likely see him don Barca colors for the first time after the international break when Real Betis travel to the Montjuic Stadium to take on Xavi’s La Liga champions September 17.

As Fati is now out of the picture, Felix could inherit his number 10 shirt made famous by club legends including Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho.