With things picking up pace for Barcelona in the summer transfer window, the La Liga champions have confirmed their fourth signing of the ongoing trading period with Oriol Romeu returning to his boyhood club from Girona FC.
Romeu had emerged as the Catalans’ main target to reinforce the defensive midfield position as a replacement for Sergio Busquets after it became clear that they cannot afford the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi.
There were never any issues in securing an agreement over personal terms with the midfielder, who was excited to come back to the club where it all started for him.
However, negotiations with Girona were tricky, but eventually, an agreement was struck for a deal reportedly worth €5 million plus variables with Pablo Torre moving to the Montilivi on a season-long loan deal.
Romeu has signed a three-year contract with Barcelona until the summer of 2026 and has a release clause worth €400 million embedded in it.
A report from David Bernabeu Reverter of SPORT is claiming that Barcelona have spent only €3.4 million on Romeu’s signing, and that the deal is independent of Torre’s loan move to Girona.
A product of the club’s La Masia youth setup, the midfielder had made two senior appearances for the Blaugrana before leaving for Chelsea over a decade ago. He has accumulated a lot of experience in the Premier League with Southampton.
Having returned to Spain last summer, Romeu enjoyed a fine debut season with Girona and will look to build on that and become a good short-term fix for Barcelona in the holding midfield role.
As mentioned before, Romeu is the Blaugrana’s fourth major signing of the summer after Ilkay Gundogan, Inigo Martinez, and Vitor Roque, although the latter is scheduled to arrive only in 2024.
Source: Barca News
