By Brian Humphrey
Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes has officially been unveiled by Barcelona after completing a €35 million switch from La Liga rivals Valencia.
The 22-year old- who was formally introduced during a short ceremony at Barcelona’s mini Estadi- becomes the club’s fourth signing thus far after the acquisition of: David Suarez from Villarreal, Samuel Umtiti from Lyon and Lucas Digne from PSG.
Early life
Born Andre Filipe Tavares Gomes on 30 July 1993 in Grijo, Portugal, he- like most Portuguese superstars- began his career with FC Porto.
As a youth he had short spells at Pasteleira and Boavista before finally settling in Benfica in 2012.
Although he managed to go through the ranks up to the first team, a season-long loan spell to Valencia soon translated into a permanent deal after being assured of a place in the starting berth.
It was at the Mestalla Stadium that Gomes played some of his best football, eventually welcoming the interest of the Catalans after a successful Euro 2016 campaign with Portugal.
Where will he play?
Barcelona may have won the treble in 2015, but Luis Enrique’s charges are without question a team in transition.
Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano form part of a slowly but surely aging old guard, weakened by the departure of Victor Valdes and Xavi Hernandez.
The club has however been timely, replacing the long serving Spaniards with Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ivan Rakitic respectively.
Andre Gomes is a central midfielder versatile enough to double as an attacking midfielder.
In that regard, there is a fat chance of seeing the 22-year old starting in a team that already has Iniesta, Busquets and Rakitic at the middle of the park in their orthodox 4-3-3 formation.
The Catalans have in the past been heavily criticized for sidelining non-Spanish speaking players in the past- case in point Thomas Vermaleen and Arda Turan-, but Andre Gomes should however do just enough to get games under his belt on his debut season, more so in the cup competitions.
