Barcelona seal €40m deal for top Brazilian midfielder

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- Barcelona have landed midfielder Arthur from top Brazilian club Gremio in a deal valued at €40m

- The 21-year-old penned a six-year deal with Barcelona following the agreement between both teams

- The midfielder netted six times in 66 matches for Gremio across all competitions

La Liga champions Barcelona have landed midfielder Arthur from top Brazilian club Gremio in a deal valued at about € 40m (£35.5m).

According to the Spanish side the 21-year-old penned a six-year deal with the La Liga champions following the agreement between both teams last March.

Arthur contract with the Nou Camp outfit includes a €400m (£451m) buy-out clause that is expected to see Barcelona cough out about € 31m (£27.5m) initially.

Interestingly, Arthur signed for Barcelona 24 hours after compatriot Paulinho quit the Spanish topflight La Liga's to rejoin former club Guangzhou Evergrande on loan.

Arthur, who teamed up with Gremio in 2010 from lower-league campaigners Goias Esporte Clube, played his first game under ex-Selecao boss Luiz Felipe Scolari in 2015 at 18.

Although he was called up to the Selecao squad in the past, he is yet to play any competitive match for the South American side and was not involved with the World Cup team.

On the other hand, Arthur helped Gremio claim Brazil's FA Cup, the Copa do Brasil, in 2016 as well as the South America's Champions League, better known as Copa Libertadores in 2017.

In all, the midfielder who emerged man of the match in the second leg final fixture of the 2017 Copa Libertadores that saw the Brazilian side overcome Argentina’s Lanus 3-1 on aggregate, netted six times in 66 matches for Gremio.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously had reported that Barcelona have confirmed that Brazil’s Paulinho will be heading back to former club China’s Guangzhou Evergrande on loan.

A statement on Barcelona’s official website applauded the Brazil international for his contributions during his stay with the La Liga outfit.

“FC Barcelona and Guangzhou Evergrande have reached an agreement for the loan transfer of Paulinho Bezerra for one season, with a subsequent purchase option for the Chinese club.

“Barça publicly expresses its gratitude to Paulinho for his commitment and dedication and wishes him luck and success in the future,” the statement read in part.

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