Barcelona confirm Arthur capture for 30 million euros
Barça have agreed an option to buy the Brazilian player with Gremio in July so that they can include the transfer in their budget for the 2018/19 season.
FC Barcelona issued an official statement after midday on Sunday to announce that they have reached an agreement with Grêmio de Porto Alegre to reserve an option to buy Brazilian midfielder Arthur Henrique Ramos de Oliveira Melo.
Arthur will become a Barça player in July as long as the Catalan club pays the 30 million euro transfer fee to Grêmio plus an additional 9 in add-on fees.
Lengthy negotiating process
The 21-year-old will become Barcelona's first signing for the new season. Negotiations have been going on for some time but reaching a deal was set back as both clubs tried to find a solution as to the method of payment and also because the Brazilian club were initially not willing to let the player go until the January 2019.
Arthur's arrival means that Barcelona exceed the permitted number of non-EU players and so they must now accelerate the process of nacionalización de Philippe Coutinho, who is hoping to gain duel Brazilian-Portuguese citizenship this summer through his spouse.
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