Claudio Bravo transferred to Manchester City

FC Barcelona has announced that Claudio Bravo is leaving for Manchester City after two seasons between the Camp Nou posts and following the agreement to sign his replacement, Jasper Cillessen. The club will receive 18 million euros plus a further two million in variables as a result of the transfer deal.

FC Barcelona wishes the player every success with this latest stage of his career and has invited him to formally say farewell to the fans during the coming season.

Two amazing years

The goalkeeper is not going away empty handed, for the Catalans have won no fewer than eight major trophies in that time. The Chilean was especially involved in the back-to-back Liga titles, the Club World Cup in Japan and the Spanish Super Cup won just a few days ago. He was also able to celebrate victories in the Champions League in Berlin, the European Super Cup in Tbilisi and the last two editions of the Copa del Rey. In total, he made 75 official appearances for the club, conceding 43 goals.

Along with Ter Stegen, Bravo has stood up excellently to the difficult task of replacing long-time goalkeeper Víctor Valdés in one of the most challenging and demanding positions in world football – that of defending the Barça goal. He joined the club from Real Sociedad in the summer of 2014 and got off to an incredible start – keeping nine straight clean sheets to set a league record of 754 minutes without being beaten.

Copa America double

His footwork has always been outstanding, as is his perfect reading of the game, and he has produced some memorably spectacular saves in his time as Barça goalie – often saving the day in difficult situations. He collected the Zamora Trophy for the best goalkeeping record in the Liga 2014/15 season (18 goals in 37 games). His stats the following year were not too different, with 23 goals conceded in 35 games and he kept clean sheets in both legs of the recent Spanish Super Cup with Sevilla, including a penalty save at the Camp Nou.

While this was happening, Bravo was also captain of the Chile national team, who he guided to its first ever Copa América in 2015 and then again in the special centenary edition of the competition in the summer of 2016. He was named top goalkeeper of both tournaments.