OFFICIAL: Barcelona sign Paco Alcacer

Barça have been in the market in search of a striker to complement the MSN trio in attack and have lost out on the likes of Kevin Gameiro and Luciano Vietto, but the club didn’t relent and ended up getting one of the best young strikers in the league in Paco Alcacer.

The 23-year old striker passed his medical at the club and signed a 5-year contract that will see him tied to the Camp Nou until the summer of 2021. Alcacer was signed for €30 million fixed plus an extra €2 million in variables with Barça striker Munir El Haddadi moving on loan to Valencia as part of the deal as reported. He has a €100M release clause and is now Barça’s 6th signing of the summer after the arrivals of Samuel Umtiti, Denis Suarez, Lucas Digne, Andre Gomes and Jasper.

The Alcacer saga was a very interesting one. There were a lot of hesitations by some sections of the Valencia board to let their man go. The fans alongside the coach Pako Ayestaran, the sporting director Suso Garcia Pitarch and the president Lay Hoon Chan didn’t want Alcacer to leave the Mestalla as they see him as an emblem of the club. But owner Peter Lim had the final say and the player was willing to join. The club are looking to solve their financial problem and the €30 million offered by Barça would go a long way.

Alcacer joined Valencia in 2005 and has been there for 11 years, graduating from the youth and B team. He has scored 33 goals in La Liga since his debut and has added another six for the Spanish national team where he featured on 13 occasions. Alcacer is a good striker, perfect with both feet and also good with his head, he will definitely give a lot to Barça as backup for Luis Suarez.

MUNIR EL HADDADI JOINS VALENCIA

The arrival of Paco Alcacer meant young Barça striker Munir El Haddadi moved the other way to Valencia as part of the deal. Valencia can buy Munir for €12 million at the end of the season.

The youngster wouldn’t be given as much playing time as Alcacer would get so the club opted to send him to a place here will get more minutes and also mature as a player. Valencia were keen on signing him so he was included in the deal.