Barcelona sign centre-back Jeison Murillo on loan
Barcelona add some depth to their depleted back line as they reach an agreement to sign Jeison Murillo on loan from Valencia.
Christmas came a little early for Barcelona as the club add some depth to their defence. The club came to an agreement with Valencia to sign centre-back Jeison Murillo, on loan, for the rest of the season. The details of the agreement see Murillo heading to Camp Nou for a loan fee of around €2 million with a purchase option of €25 million at the end of the year.
According to reports, Murillo was Barcelona’s “Plan B” as they were unable to come to an agreement with Chelsea for their defender, Andreas Christensen. This will be the second Colombian-born defender to play for the club following Yerry Mina who was sold to Everton prior to the start of the season. It’s interesting to note that in the national team, Murillo often plays second fiddle to Mina.
More from FC Barcelona
- Alexia Putellas reaches 400 games with Barcelona
- Barcelona put five past Real Betis
- Xavi backs struggling Robert Lewandowski
- Gavi youngest Barcelona player to reach 100 games
- Barcelona struggle but pull out win against Osasuna
The move makes sense for both sides as Barcelona are desperate for depth due to the injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti with the former out for a month while the latter could be out for the rest of the season. On Murillo’s part, the player was looking for a way out of Valencia after no longer being taken into account by their manager, Marcelino.
What plays in Murillo’s favour is that he is a player that Ernesto Valverde asked for. The knock on Mina when he arrived was that he was a signing made by the club rather than the manager. When a player doesn’t have the faith of a manager, they’re less likely to play and that’s what happened with Mina.
With the signing of Murillo, Barcelona currently have Pique, Lenglet, Murillo, and possibly “Chumi” as their available defenders. One of the reasons they delved into the market rather than count on the academy player is Valverde wanted someone with more experience and didn’t want to throw Chumi into the fire, so to speak, in Champions or League games.
The signing of Murillo should not have an impact on their pursuit of Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt. Assuming Vermaelen does not come back next season, which is almost a certainty, the age of Gerard Pique, and the status of Umtiti, the Ajax defender is still a need and a priority for the blaugrana.
Next. 5 players for Barcelona to sign in January. dark
If Barcelona wants to win the Champions League this season, they’ll need all their players to be fresh. With the addition of Murillo, a player with plenty of La Liga experience, they’ve managed to add a quality player to a much-needed area.