Barcelona have officially announced the departure of Brazilian fullback Douglas Pereira to Turkish club Sivasspor on a season-long loan deal.
Barcelona have made an official statement to confirm that Douglas Pereira will be leaving the club for Sivasspor on a season-long loan deal, he will spend the last year of his Barcelona contract away from Nou Camp on a loan tenure.
Douglas signed for Barcelona in 2014, with the move deemed as one of the worst transfers in the history of the club by the club’s fanbase and experts, as the player was never thought to be a match for the club in terms of quality. As foreseen, Douglas never managed to tie down a starting spot at the club. Even when he was available, Sergi Roberto was transformed into a right-back in the time of crisis on the right side of the defence.
Despite appearing for barely in 8 matches in 4 years with Barcelona’s first team, Douglas Pereira has accumulated eight titles including a treble in 2015. Meanwhile, The 27-year-old doesn’t appear to fit in Ernesto Valverde’s plans for upcoming just like last season.
Therefore, Douglas felt an urge to play elsewhere to land more game-time as he has entered into the final year of his Barcelona contract, and the Catalan-club board does not seem to be in any state to renew it. This would be his 3rd loan spell in 4 years at the club, his first destination on loan was Sporting Gijon where he notched some decent performances and seemed to suit the system.
Furthermore, he made a progressive step and moved to Benfica on loan. Unfortunately, he did not deliver and was not felt needed by the Portuguese club anymore. Douglas only made 10 appearances in the entire season for Benfica. Later the Encarnados tried to terminate his loan deal in January, which was halfway before the date of expiry of the loan deal.
Hence, the player was aware of his status at the Blaugrana club and decided to look somewhere else for regular game-time. Sivasspor will be his final move as a Barcelona player. According to the agreement, the Turkish side will take care of almost all of his wages, and he will play beside fellow Brazilian star Robinho.
It seems like this is the last chance for the Brazilian defender to redeem his career in Europe as next year he will be turned into a free agent by the Spanish giants. Therefore, he needs to perform accordingly to make himself a viable option for the other clubs next year.
