Barcelona sign Aleix Vidal from Sevilla

European champions FC Barcelona have reached an agreement to sign Aleix Vidal from Sevilla.

Just a day after winning the treble, Barcelona officially announced the signing of Spanish right-back Aleix Vidal. The fee is reported to be around €18 million and reportedly other players are not involved in the deal. The 25-year old will sign for 5 years i.e. till 2020 and will officially be presented after medical tests on Monday.

The signing of Aleix Vidal means that Barcelona’s tradition of snatching Sevilla’s fullbacks continues as they have earlier done business with them for Dani Alves and Adriano. They also brought in the versatile midfielder Ivan Rakitić from them last summer.

With Dani Alves’s future up in the air, the Blaugrana wanted to act quickly to cover themselves for next season. However, Aleix Vidal will not be able to join officially until midway through next season, due to a transfer ban handed down by FIFA. He would be allowed to train with the team but his debut would have to wait till January 2016.

Aleix Vidal is a versatile player and given his speed and the Catalonian heritage, Barcelona will hope his career follows the path of Jordi Alba’s.

Barcelona board will be speeding up the signings of players given their elections are due in the very near future and quality signings would make them hopeful for earning some votes from the socios.