The summer transfer window in Spain and Portugal has officially opened its doors, and the last hours have brought serious movement in the camp of the Spanish champion Barcelona.
The Catalans took advantage of their return to the financial rule “1:1“ La Liga to reorganize their squads while the Portuguese giants finalize large-scale deals.
Barcelona sends Ter Stegen to Ajax and sells young talent
The most surprising news from the “Camp Nou“ is the progress in the loan agreement for the long-serving goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen in Ajax. The Dutch giants will cover most of the salary of the German goalkeeper, who is highly desired by manager Michel and director Cruyff.
In addition, Barcelona officially announced the transfer of the Basque striker Dani Rodriguez at Dinamo Zagreb. The departure of these players, along with the early departures of Robert Lewandowski (Chicago Fire) and Ansu Fati (Monaco), gives president Joan Laporta the green light to activate his offer worth over 100 million euros to attract Julián Álvarez from Atletico Madrid.
Portuguese giants strengthen their squads
In the Portuguese market, Sporting Lisbon has demonstrated serious ambitions with the purchase of defensive midfielder Sergi Altimira from Real Betis for the sum of 18.5 million euros.
Meanwhile, city rivals Benfica secured the services of defender Clément Langlé, who arrives on loan from Atletico Madrid. Sporting Braga also did not lag behind and finalized the transfer of the central defender Adrian Bajrami from Lucerne for 2.8 million euros.
Expected mega-deals on the horizon
Rumours in Portugal are also intensifying, with Barcelona having made initial enquiries through agent Jorge Mendes about signing the Portuguese star from Milan Rafael Leao, whose price dropped to 60 million euros. On the other hand, Real Madrid came out with an official position in which they categorically denied the information that they are interested in or are negotiating for Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea.
Sources: Yahoo Sports / Mundo Deportivo/ Barca Blaugranes / ESPN, FotMob, Fabrizio Romano.