After months of speculation, it appears
that Barcelona have finally gotten their
desired frontline reinforcement.
According to reports from TV3 in Spain,
the Blaugrana and Celta Vigo have
completed a deal for winger Manuel
Durán, commonly known as Nolito. The
29-year-old will join Barça on loan until
the end of the 2015-16 season. After that,
the Blaugranes have the option to
exercise a €18 million buy option to
permanently sign the player. If they
decide not to buy, then Celta Vigo will
receive a penalty fee.
Also according to the reports, one of
Barça young strikers Sandro Ramírez and
Munir El-Haddadi will be included in the
deal to give Celta a player in return. It's
unclear whether they'll stay in a
hypothetical permanent signing of Nolito
in July, but that's something to be
worked out in the future.
Nolito has been rumored to sign for
Barcelona since last summer. The former
Barça B winger who played under coach
Luis Enrique at La Masía has blossomed
into a La Liga star this season, scoring
eight times in 15 games so far and being
the main reason for Celta's impressive
run so far. The winger would be the final
piece of the puzzle for Enrique to have a
reliable backup off the bench for the
'MSN' trio, something he lost with the
departure of Pedro Rodríguez to Chelsea.
