Barcelona have completed the £15million signing Denmark international Martin Braithwaite from struggling Leganes. The 28-year-old has signed a contract with the Catalan club until 2024, which has a release clause of £250million.
Barcelona could sign Braithwaite outside of the transfer window as clubs who experience a long-term injury can bring in a player as an emergency addition. The striker joined because of an injury to French forward Ousmane Dembele, who will not play again this season due to a serious hamstring problem.
A desperate signing for Barcelona
It was clear to see that Barcelona needed a forward in the January transfer window. Therefore, it was a mystery why the Catalan giants did sign a forward in the January transfer window. It was clear that Dembele’s injury was a serious one and with Luis Suarez also out through injury, they were worrying short of attacking numbers.
The signing of Braithwaite really does smack of desperation. The 28-year-old is the shortest of short-term signing. It will highly doubtful that he will be at the Catalan giants beyond the rest of the season. Braithwaite has scored eight goals for Leganes in 20 matches, which is not exactly a record to get the Nou Camp faithful excited.
Braithwaite far more important to Leganes
Understandably Leganes are highly unhappy that they have lost a key player at this stage of the season. The minnows are fighting relegation to the Segunda and are currently two points adrift of safety. Losing a player like Braithwaite is massive for them.
The 28-year-old may not be of Barcelona standard, but for a team like Leganes, he made a big difference. He is unlikely to make such a big impact at the Nou Camp. In fact, he may barely feature for La Liga champions Barcelona. In Catalonia, he is just a backup option. At Leganes, he was a key player.
The loss of Braithwaite has only compounded the January loss of another striker Youssef En-Nesyri to Sevilla. Neither of the sold forwards were prolific, but they were both better than what Leganes have been left within their squad.
The whole incident has left a sour taste in the mouth in Spain. Barcelona are certainly not the favour of the month at the moment because of the deal, even if they have followed the rules correctly. The move has left Leganes in major trouble.
Leganes one of the favourites for relegation
In truth, even before the exit of Braithwaite to Barcelona, Leganes were one of the favourites for relegation from La Liga. Now Leganes are odds of 4/7 to suffer the drop in to the Segunda. The unfortunate thing for them is that will not be able to bring in a replacement. They are major losers in this deal.
The transfer has raised question marks over the ethics involved in the emergency transfer system. Legally Barcelona have not done anything wrong, but they have weakened an already weak team and hampered their chances of surviving in La Liga.
The worse thing is that as previously mentioned Braithwaite is only likely to be a short-term solution for the Catalan giants, who will no doubt sign another forward next summer and still Dembele will be back to fitness.
It will be interesting to see the ramifications of the deal. One thing for sure, Leganes are furious at the move.
Is it right that Barcelona have been allowed to sign Martin Braithwaite from Leganes?
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
