According to multiple reports in Spain, the deal that will see Oriol Romeu join Barcelona from Girona is basically complete. In fact, Gerard Romeu has confirmed that Romeu is no longer training with Girona and the former Barca youth player will be unveiled tomorrow, in time for the defensive midfielder to travel with the squad to the USA on Wednesday 19th of July.
Xavi identified Romeu early in the off-season as a player of interest, with the former Chelsea man’s defensive capabilities being attractive to a team who lost Sergio Busquets this summer.
It’s long been rumoured that Romeu would make a return to the club where he made his senior debut for the first team back in 2010.
There are still some minor financial details to work out in terms of structure but the agreement is in place and Romeu will become a new Barca player, in return Girona will receive €4.5 million, significantly lower than the €8 million reported several weeks ago.
Girona keen on Barcelona reinforcements
Although this deal is being worked on in isolation, Girona is believed to hold interest in two Barca youth players, with Pablo Torre and Nico Gonzalez still weighing up their options.
The Blanquivermells manager Míchel sees Gonzalez as the ideal replacement for Romeu and reached out to the player directly to try and sell him on moving across Catalonia.
As we reported yesterday, there are numerous teams interested in the signature of the young midfielder with Aston Villa and Porto being linked recently.
Moving to Girona may be attractive to Gonzalez considering its proximity to his home in Barcelona, and under Míchel he should see plenty of opportunities.
As for Romeu, he’s returning to the team he joined as a youth back in 2004. After working his way up he was handed a first-team opportunity by Manager Pep Guardiola.
Romeu moved to Chelsea after making just 1 competitive appearance for Barca, after struggling in London he found a home on the south coast with Southampton, making over 200 appearances for the Saints.
Romeu may not be the marquee name we’ve come to expect from a Barcelona signing, but he will offer good squad depth in the middle of the park, and his experience will be helpful for young players like Gavi and Pedri.