To see Barcelona involved in a number of transfer moves in the January transfer window is seldom. New signings are Kevin Prince-Boateng, Frenkie De Jong, Jeison Murillo and Jean Clear-Todibo.
We will come back to the four in a special presentation later in the article, and what they are likely to “give” Barca with their skills and experience. Munir El Haddadi and Denis Suarez er the two being given a chance at other clubs.
Carles Alena is also a new face being promoted to the first team. Last season Yerri Mina and Philippe Coutinho were brought to Camp Nou. Last January Javier Mascherano, Gerard Deulofeu, Arda Turan and Rafinha all made their departure.
Before last January no one deals had been negotiated in this windows since 2011, when Ibrahim Afellay joined from PSV. Afellay later joined Stoke City and has been with The Potters since 2015, but this January been released by the Championship club.
It’s really a new situation at Camp Nou, with so many deals taking place with them being the leaders and still making so many changes to their squad. So who are the new faces and what will they bring in.
Frenkie De Jong and Jean Clair-Todibo will not join Barca before the end of the season and seeing out their contracts at their current clubs Ajax and Toulouse, before the two youngsters makes their dream move down to Barca.
Frenkie De Jong is one of the most talented young players in Europe at the moment, and again Ajax shows their grand skills of producing great players and then sell them on two the top of the pops in football. De Jong is still a bit of a risk for Barca, with only five full caps so far and just 46 league games to his name at Ajax.
The signing of Kevin Prince-Boateng comes as a surprise and must be seen as a cover for other players, but again he has an impressive CV, playing with some of the giants in international football. At the age of 31, he can still play and be that player to really put on in late stages of a game or as a cover, when resting players against lower positioned opponents.
Boateng last played in Spain with Las Palmas back in 2016-17, and must have impressed a few eyes in games in the Primera division, Las Palmas ending 14th with Prince-Boateng in midfield. He scored an impressive 10 goals in 28 games while at Las Palmas.
He has since leaving Las Palmas played for Eintracht Frankfurt and Sassuolo and been doing well on the field and contributed at Bundesliga and Serie A level. His move to Barca is a loan until to the end of the season with a possibility to make it permanent if things work out for both parties.
Jeison Murillo is a 27 year old Columbian international who recently played for Valencia. Before that he was with Inter Milan. Started with Udinese in Europe and has since been a bit around in Europe, also him at one time playing for Las Palmas.
There are still a bit of time left before this January transfer window close, and the rumor about a Philippe Coutinho return to England is in the air. Few believe it will happen anything, but Manchester United are said to be interested.
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