Talented young Barcelona forward leaves club on loan

Talented Barcelona forward Estanis Pedrola has chosen his next club, and he’ll be spending the 2023-24 season in Italy on loan at Sampdoria.

The move was officially confirmed by the club this morning, and that’s a huge coup for the Genoa-based side managed by Italian legend Andrea Pirlo.

The deal does have a conditional purchase option for Sampdoria for €3 million, but due to Pedrola’s pedigree and the obvious talent, Barcelona have inserted a €7 million buy-back option and a 50% sell-on fee into the contract, protecting their interests.

Estanis had plenty of options to choose from after impressing with the Barcelona B side last year.

Osasuna, Cadiz, Alavés, Valladolid and Elche were all interested as was Girona with Pedrola liking the idea of joining fellow Barça Atlètic player Pablo Torre on loan just an hour’s drive north of Barcelona.

Pedrola will now look to cement his place at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, with Sampdoria looking to return to Serie A after club legend Dejan Stanković couldn’t prevent the team from finishing 20th and suffering relegation last year.

Sampdoria also went into bankruptcy this year had it not been for the intervention of former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, who reached an agreement to buy the club.

Pedrola is unproven at the highest level, but he has an enormous amount of talent and is highly thought of within the Barca management team. Although they were willing to insert an optional buy-clause they’ve made it easy for Pedrola to return to Barca with a €7 million buy-back fee.

The young striker only arrived at Barca two years ago and he became a key member of Rafa Márquez’s Barça Atlètic team last year, scoring 8 goals in 21 appearances.

Barcelona have signed Diego Percan this year to lead the line and the belief is that Estanis Pedrola is ready to establish himself in first-team football.