Barcelona have officially completed the signing of Kevin-Prince Boateng from Sassuolo in a short-term loan deal until the end of the season.
Barcelona have made an official statement to announce that they have officially completed the shock loan move for Ghanaian striker Kevin-Prince Boateng for the remainder of the season. The Blaugrana also reserve the right to sign the 31-year-old on a permanent deal from Sassuolo for €8 million in the summer transfer window.
Kevin-Prince Boateng has been quite a journeyman during his near fifteen-year long senior career, having represented as many as nine clubs thus far. The latest in the long list of clubs he has featured for were Sassuolo, with the player beginning his third stint in Italy after two spells with AC Milan.
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The experienced attacker was a mild success with the Neroverdi, amassing a decent return of five goals and two assists in 15 appearances across all competitions. But, his Sassuolo stint has come to an end after just half-a-season, with Barcelona snapping him up in a shock loan deal.
Barcelona did have an urgent need to bolster their attack following the departure of Munir El Haddadi to Sevilla this month. Munir’s sale means Ernesto Valverde had no one to depend on to be a reliable backup to Luis Suarez, especially if Lionel Messi was rested too, with Ousmane Dembele struggling to take to the role of a striker against Levante two weeks ago.
As a result, Barcelona had been linked with a number of strikers who could have been an able backup to the veteran superstar. But, the links with Boateng came out of nowhere, with the Catalan giants suddenly being rumoured to be interested in the 31-year-old on Monday.
The rumours did end up being true, with the Blaugrana quickly wrapping up the transfer. Boateng joins Barcelona on a short-term loan deal for the remainder of the season, with the La Liga champions also retaining the option to sign the 31-year-old permanently from Sassuolo for €8 million.
While he is unlikely to be a regular, the presence of the experienced attacker, coupled with his ability to play across various positions in attack means Valverde will have a healthy buffer at his disposal in case of emergencies, similar to how Jeison Murillo provides him the luxury in defence. That he also has previous experience of playing in La Liga ought to come in handy too.
A new journey beckons Kevin-Prince Boateng, who is set to achieve his life-long dream of playing for Barcelona. It now remains to be seen if he can be a success at Camp Nou, as he joins the tenth club of his journeyed career.
