Barcelona‘s attacking revamp has continued with Friday’s signing of young Belgian winger Jesse Bisiwu from Club Brugge.
Sources told ESPN the deal is worth around €8.5m million ($9.7m), while Brugge will be due 20% of any future transfer as well.
Bisiwu, 18, has signed a five-year deal to become Barça’s third signing of the summer, all of them forwards.
He follows Newcastle United‘s Anthony Gordon and Borussia Dortmund‘s Karim Adeyemi in the door at Spotify Camp Nou as coach Hansi Flick shakes up his attack.
The trio arrive following the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford, while Roony Bardghji could also exit this summer.
Ferran Torres‘ future remains uncertain, too. The Spain forward, who scored the winning goal in the World Cup final, is out of contract next summer and has not yet agreed new terms with Barça.
Barça’s splurge on forwards may not end with Bisiwu, either, with sources telling ESPN the club still want to sign a No.9 to replace Lewandowski.
Atlético Madrid‘s Julián Álvarez remains their No.1 target, with interest in Bournemouth’s Eli Junior Kroupi cooling for now after the French forward underwent surgery on a foot injury.
Bisiwu will join Barça’s preseason preparations in the coming days, although his role this season is still to be defined.
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There remains the possibility that he could also feature at times for Barça Atletico, who play in the fourth tier of Spanish football.
Despite being highly-rated at Brugge, where he signed his first professional contract as a 15-year-old, he never made a competitive appearance for the first team.
Instead, he has featured regularly for Club NXT in the Challenger Pro League, while he was also part of the talented U19 side which reached the final of the UEFA Youth League this past season, losing to Real Madrid in the final.
However, as Barça’s interest advanced and contract renewal talks stalled, he was left on bench for the semifinal against Benfica and the final against Madrid in April.
