Barcelona have today confirmed the emergency signing of Leganes’ Martin Braithwaite for €18m on a four and a half year deal.
La Liga gave the second-placed side permission to complete the emergency deal on Monday, as it comes after the transfer deadline, due to the recent injury to Ousmane Dembele.
The French forward has suffered a hamstring injury that could see him sidelined for up to six months.
The Spanish giants had been scrambling to sign a forward, unable to complete the transfer of Valencia’s Rodrigo Moreno due to a lack of funds – they ended their interest before the January window slammed shut.
That left them searching further down the league, given rules state they can only sign a player from another Spanish club.
Leganes, based in South Madrid, are currently 19th in the La Liga table, two points from safety.
Now, their bid for survival has been made even more challenging and their four-season stint in the top flight could end when the campaign comes to a close.
With almost every player in the Spanish league having a buy-out clause, it was going to be impossible for them to prevent a transfer if the buying club were able to afford it.
Braithwaite has scored six times in the league this season, assisting twice.
This may not seem a lot when compared to the attacking talent Barcelona already have in Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Dembele – but these are stats that could’ve made the difference for Leganes in the second half of the season.
Sevilla had already signed one of their strikers in January, Youssef En-Nesyri departed towards the end of the window after his €20m buyout clause was triggered.
Rules state the selling club cannot make an emergency signing, which could be detrimental to the struggling Leganes.
For Barcelona, injuries to key players is clearly an emergency with the title race in full swing.
But at the other end of the table, Leganes have been left with no greater emergency.
Hannah Pinnock Sports Blog 