Signing a midfield pivot to replace their former captain Sergio Busquets has been one of the main aims of FC Barcelona for this summer transfer window. After weeks and months of trying to fulfill this aim, the club has succeeded in this operation.
The player who will replace Busquets in the squad will be the former La Masia graduate Oriol Romeu. Negotiations with Girona for the transfer of the midfielder have been successfully completed, and the Catalan club has officially announced the signing of Romeu.
The player and Barcelona had already been in agreement for the last few days. Under his new contract with FC Barcelona, Romeu will remain at the Catalan club for three years with a release clause of €400 million.
While not the most celebrated of names associated with FC Barcelona in the last few months for this role, Oriol Romeu would bring a set of attributes that the squad currently lacks.
Xavi was in favor of the midfielder because of his positional awareness on the pitch, and the gaffer aims to bring more balance and stability to his midfield by combing Romeu with the likes of Gundogan, Pedri, Gavi, and De Jong.
With this move, Romeu will come back to FC Barcelona after 13 seasons, as he left the Catalan club for Chelsea after making a debut under Pep Guardiola. After having varied seasons in which he played a number of clubs across Europe, the player stabilized at Southampton.
He was also a key player in his last club Girona, where he played more than 3000 minutes and helped the club get a 10th position in La Liga. Hopefully, Romeu would have an even better season with FC Barcelona, and help the club with his experience and skills.