Leeds United have confirmed the signing of left-back Junior Firpo from Barcelona on a permanent deal.
The 24-year-old was stuck behind Jordi Alba in the picking order last season, starting just three La Liga matches, and he was quickly identified as a possible accident in Barça’s need to drastically reduce costs.
Leeds wasted some time taking advantage of the situation, began talks with Barcelona about a deal for Firpo, and the English side went to their official website to confirm that the deal is now complete.
They may have refused to mention the fee paid for Firpo, but Barcelona were kind enough to reveal that Leeds have shared around £ 13m to sign the left-back, and Barcelona also negotiated a 20% sale clause.
Firpo has put paper on paper on a four-year contract at Elland Road, where he is expected to be an immediate start after Ezgjan Alioski’s departure.
? Welcome @ JuniorFirpo03! pic.twitter.com/4XS9CztV52
– Leeds United (@LUFC) July 6, 2021
Marcelo Bielsa still has 21-year-old Leif Davis to call, while Laurens De Bock is expected to return to Belgium on a permanent basis after his loan with Zulte Waregem expired.
Firpo will be the third signing of the summer for Leeds, who have finally managed to bring in Jack Harrison on a permanent basis and have also moved to bring in the young winger Amari Miller from Birmingham City.
There are also plans to land Wigan teenager Sean McGurk, with talks going well with the Championship side.
Bielsa strengthens his group / Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA / Getty Images
Firpo will be happy for a fresh start after two years playing second fiddle to Alba at the Camp Nou. Firpo became one of La Liga’s best young left-backs just a few years ago, starting just 22 games in his two seasons with Barcelona and never came close to replacing veteran Alba.
He hopes to rediscover his form from the 2018/19 season, where he plundered three goals and four assists in 24 games for Real Betis.
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
