Barcelona are poised to finally bring their pursuit of Valencia defender Jeremy Mathieu to a successful conclusion, with the Frenchman set to sign for the Camp Nou club in a €20 million (Dh98.9m) deal.
The transfer is likely to be confirmed today following a tense stand-off between the two clubs, which has seen Valencia hold out for the full valuation of Mathieu’s buy-out clause while Barca initially only offered €15m (Dh74.2m).
The selling club are likely to ultimately get their way, with Barca’s desperation to end their search for an experienced central defender forcing them to pay more than they had hoped to secure the 30-year-old’s services.
Although neither club has yet confirmed the impending deal, Valencia have been keen to conclude the long-running saga before today’s departure for their pre-season trip to South America, hence the likelihood of confirmation in the next 24 hours.
After a long search for a successor to the recently retired Carles Puyol, which has seen their team linked with world-renowned performers such as Thiago Silva, David Luiz and Mats Hummels, many Barca fans are decidedly underwhelmed by the prospect of spending a significant sum on a veteran who only recently converted from left-back into the centre of defence.
His attributes are exactly those most needed by the Nou Camp club – height, strength in the air, physical power and left-footedness to complement the right-footed Gerard Pique – but former Barca star Rafa Marquez is among those unconvinced by Mathieu’s qualities.
“I don’t think he has the profile to play for Barca, especially at that price,” he said. “I hope they think about it carefully. If they do spend such an amount, I hope it’s for someone who’s really worth it.”
Meanwhile, Barca forward Bojan Krkic has joined Premier League club Stoke on a four-year deal.
The 23-year-old, who broke into the Barca first team in 2007 but struggled to make an impression after re-signing following two years at Roma, moves to the Britannia Stadium for an undisclosed fee.
Bojan, who becomes Stoke’s fifth signing of the summer, will fly out to join his new team-mates at their pre-season training camp in Reit im Winkl, Germany.
