FC Barcelona have secured the signature of Aleix Vidal, from Sevilla, on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee. The news was confirmed by Barcelona's official website. He will be officially presented today, at lunchtime, and his contract keeps him at Camp Nou until June 2020.
The winger is leaving the Europa League winners for the Champions League winners, having been monitorized by Barcelona for a long time. The 25 year-old long-time catalans target will now have the chance to prove that he is good enough to play alongside stars like Leo Messi, Suarez or Neymar.
It's difficult to imagine that A. Vidal will be a first team player, especially taking into account the big-name competition at the wing positions. Vidal had joined Sevilla for a €3 million fee, last summer, from Almeria and will be leaving the club after just one season.
There is also a possibility that A. Vidal might play further behind and replace Dani Alves, who is reportedly leaving Barcelona, on July 1, when his contract expires. Vidal can operate on both flanks as a winger, but he has also shown to be capable of playing as an attacking full-back. Even playing regularly at Sevilla, as winger, he was never a goal scoring machine, having managed to score only four times but registering 11 assists.
He has made 47 appereances for Sevilla, this season, helping them win the Europa League and finish 5th in La Liga.
The La Liga champions are banned from any transfer activities, during this summer, and Vidal will be unable to play for the catalans until January next year, at the earliest. But Vidal's transfer could be a clear sign of Pedro's departure.
Pedro has not been happy with the lack of first-team Football and will consider to leaving the club this summer. Liverpool are reportedly interested in the Spanish winger, being very active in transfer market so far, after having signed James Milner and Danny Ings.
Vidal will be officially presented this afternoon, after passing the medicals at the Hospital de Barcelona and the Centre Medic at the Ciutat Esportiva. As the club's official website announced: ''the signing ceremy and official presentation will be streamed live on the club's website''.
