Primera Liga: Barcelona sign defender Jeremy Mathieu

Primera Liga: Barcelona sign defender Jeremy Mathieu
Barcelona have completed the signing of Valencia defender Jeremy Mathieu on a four-year contract for a fee of £15.8m. Mathieu, aged 30, has won just two caps for France and can play at left-back or centre-back. He is the one who will replace former captain Carles Puyol, who has retired from playing after 15 years at the club. A Barcelona statement said: "The cost of the transfer of Mathieu is 20m euros and the buyout clause will be 50m euros." Mathieu has made 126 league appearances in five seasons at Valencia, scoring six times. Barcelona finished second in La Liga last season, a result that pushed them to spend heavily this summer under new boss Luis Enrique. They broke their transfer record to sign striker Luis Suarez from Liverpool for £75m, and also bought midfielder Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla. They have also signed goalkeepers Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo, while Cesc Fabregas, Puyol, Victor Valdes, Bojan Krkic and Alexis Sanchez have all left the Nou Camp. Barcelona are 11/10 at Bet365 to win the Primera Liga title next season.
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