The Blaugrana have reached an agreement with Valencia over the transfer of the 30-years-old defender, Jeremy Mathieu and signed their 5th player this transfer window.
Both clubs have negotiated for some time, but Barcelona were offering the lower bid than Valencia wanted, and the deal looked to hit a dead end, still the player himself stepped in and urged Valencia to allow him to join Barcelona.
Barcelona have opened the negotiations on July 16 , by making an initial bid that it was rejected by Valencia. The Los Che wanted at least 20million for the centre back, which matches his contract release clause.
The 30-years-old, has signed today a 4-years deal with The Blaugrana , with an optional season. Also his contract release clause was set at €50 million. He will replace the retired Carles Puyol and will play alongside Spanish International, Pique.
Mathieu has joined Valencia from Touluse on June 2009. He made his debut for the club vs Sevilla. During 4 seasons with Los Che, he made 129 appearances, scoring only 3 goals.
The French defender is the 5th player that joined Barcelona this summer. The Blaugrana landed earlier Suarez from Liverpool , Rakitic from Sevilla , Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo.