OFFICIAL: Barcelona announce Vidal capture

The Chilean midfielder will sign a three-year deal at the Camp Nou, with final confirmation of the move expected in the coming days.

The club announced via Twitter that a deal had been agreed, following widespread speculation over the course of Thursday and Friday that a move was close.

That statement read: "FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich have reached an agreement for the transfer of player Arturo Vidal. The agreement is for the next three seasons and is pending the medical examination that the player will undertake over the course of the next few days.

"FC Barcelona will shortly inform everyone about the arrival of the player and the agenda of the presentation ceremony."

Vidal left Bayern training early on Friday to press on with the deal, with Barca desperate to add another body in the middle of the park following the departures of Paulinho and Andres Iniesta this summer.

Reports in Spain claim that the deal taking the powerful midfielder to Catalonia is worth €19m up front, with an unspecified amount in potential add-ons.

Vidal becomes Barcelona's fourth signing of the summer following the captures of  Arthur, Clement Lenglet and Malcom.

The 'Azulgrana' are thought to have turned to Vidal after PSG made it very clear that they would not be allowing Adrien Rabiot to leave the club this summer, thought with the Frenchman only having a year left on his contract there is nothing to stop him from running his contract down and making the move to the Camp Nou next year.

The move suits all parites, with new Bayern Munich boss Niko Kovac having made it clear from the start of his tenure that Vidal was not part of his plans this season.

A reliable, aggressive midfielder, Vidal impressed enough during his time at Juventus to convince Pep Guardiola to bring him to Bavaria back in 2015. 

Vidal has won four Serie A titles, three Bundesligas, a DFB Pokal, a Coppa Italia, two Italian Super Cups and two Copa Americas so far during the career and he will be hoping that he can end his wait for a Champions League winner's medal during his time with Barcelona.

 

August 3, 2018