Agreement with Atlético Mineiro for Emerson transfer

FC Barcelona and Atlético Mineiro have reached an agreement for the transfer of Emerson Aparecida Leite de Souza Junior. The Brazilian will be officially joining the Catalan club on 1 July 2019.

The fee has been set at €12m and the player will be signing for the next five seasons, through to 2023/24.

Strong in defence, strong in attack

Born in Sao Paulo on 14 January 1999 (20 years), Emerson has been in Belo Horizonte for little over a year. Before Atlético Mineiro he was playing for Ponte Preta from the city of Campinas. The right back has also played at a number of different youth levels for Brazil, and is currently playing at the South American U20 Championship in Chile.

In his country, he has been likened to former Barça star Dani Alves, being the typical Brazilian wing back who likes to go forward and support the attack. Not only does he cause constant woe for opposing wingers, but he is also able to provide pinpoint passes to his forwards. He’s quick both and off the ball, and has all the flair one would expect of a Brazilian when he has it as his feet.

Indeed, just the kind of player who should slot nicely into the Barça scheme of things. And this is best exemplified by the way he likes to get the ball out from the back – operating in close liaison with his team-mates on the basis of short passes, gradually working his way up the field in pursuit of the moment to make the killer pass.

But if needs be, he’s also got a tremendous shot from long range…