Gettty
Barcelona have made their second signing of the January transfer window by bringing in 17-year-old right winger Fabio Blanco from Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.
The highly-rated teenager will join up with Barcelona B initially but will no doubt be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of youngsters such as Gavi, Nico Gonzalez and Ez Abde in making the breakthrough into the first team.
Barcelona confirmed the details of the transfer, including Blanco’s buyout clause, on the club’s official website.
“FC Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Fabio Blanco, who will join Barça B this January. The Almería winger has signed a contract that will link him with the Club until June 30, 2024, and will have a termination clause of 100 million euros,” read a club statement. “Born on February 18, 2004 in Almería, Fabio Blanco was trained in the lower categories of Valencia since he was 12 years old, and last summer he signed for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. After a few months in the German team, Blanco will join Sergi Barjuan’s Barça B from this month of January.”
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Blanco Return To La Liga After Brief Spell in Germany
There’s is no mention of a transfer fee, although Toni Juanmarti at Diario Sport has previously reported Blanco would arrive at “practically zero cost” and any payment would simply be in the form of “variables” if he goes on to play for the first team.
The moves sees Blanco return to La Liga after a brief spell in Germany. The youngster started his career at Valencia but moved on a free transfer in summer 2021 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Blanco has played eight times for Frankfurt’s Under-19 team this season but has decided to head back to Spain already. According to Juanmarti, the teenager wanted to move because “he’s not been given the first team opportunities promised by Frankfurt.”
The youngster will now return to La Liga and will find some familiar faces at Barcelona. He has previously played at youth level for Spain alongside Barca teenagers Gavi and Ilias Akhomach.
Blanco ‘Very Proud’ To Join Barcelona
Barcelona’s latest signing has already given his first interview to the club’s TV channel after completing his move to the Camp Nou. The 17-year-old spoke of his pride at joining the Catalan giants.
“I am very proud to be part of this great club,” he said. “Today is an important day for me, I am very happy and I will try to win everything with the team. The truth is this is an emotional day for me, I’m going to try to have fun with the team. Before moving to Frankfurt, I spent 12 years in Valencia, and today I’m in Barcelona. I’m very happy.”
Blanco becomes Barcelona’s second signing of the January transfer window. The Catalans have already moved to bring in Ferran Torres from Premier League champions Manchester City.
The new arrival is likely to replace Abde at Barca B initially. The winger has been called up to the first team, due to the club’s injury problems this season, and has gone on to play eight times so far in 2021-22.
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Source: Heavy
