Barcelona sell Arthur to Juventus for 72 million euros, buy Miralem Pjanic for 60 million

Barcelona have reached an settlement to promote Brazil midfielder Arthur Melo to Juventus for a payment of 72 million euros ($80.98 million) and signed Bosnian Miralem Pjanic from the Italian champions for 60 million, the La Liga facet stated on Monday.

The 23-year-old, typically identified merely as Arthur, will stay on the Camp Nou till the top of the 2019-20 season, which has been prolonged till August due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, earlier than transferring to Turin.

Pjanic, 30, will even transfer to the Camp Nou on the finish of the marketing campaign and signal a four-year contract containing a launch clause of 400 million euros, stated Barca’s assertion, including his switch payment was value a further 5 million in variables.

Bosnian worldwide Pjanic has been at Juve since 2016, having beforehand performed for AS Roma plus French sides Olympique Lyonnais and Metz.

The switch helps Barca meet their goal of an additional 70 million euros in revenues from participant gross sales earlier than June 30, consistent with the funds the membership’s members accepted final October which forecast revenue of 124 million euros from transfers.

Barcelona have the very best revenues in world soccer however their funds have been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting ticket gross sales, tv rights and merchandising, main the membership to enact a 70% pay reduce for gamers in April.

But the negotiation has attracted criticism from Spanish future presidential candidate Victor Font, who stated the deal took place because of the membership’s monetary mismanagement.

“The deal once again proves the board’s absolute priority is to balance the books by letting key players go. The financial situation has been bad for many years, long before the pandemic,” he stated on Twitter.

Barca didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Font’s phrases.

Arthur joined Barca from Brazilian facet Gremio in July 2018 and was initially hailed because the inheritor to former membership nice Xavi Hernandez, with Lionel Messi saying he was shocked by the participant’s similarities to the facet’s former puppet grasp.

But regardless of a promising opening spell, Arthur made solely 19 league begins in his first season with the membership and 14 this marketing campaign, and coach Quique Setien stated earlier this month that he had not lived as much as expectations.

There have been additionally points off the sphere.

In March 2019, he apologised for travelling to Paris in the course of the season to attend the party of Brazil group mate Neymar. Last December, Catalan tv community stated Arthur had gone snowboarding whereas sidelined with a groin harm.