Oriol Romeu, a former youth player for Barcelona, has re-signed with the club after moving on to play for Girona. The LaLiga champions announced on Wednesday that Romeu has signed a three-year contract with Barcelona.
Romeu was a product of the junior academy at Barcelona, where he made his first appearance with the senior squad in 2010. He then moved on to Chelsea a year later. The 31-year-old player also spent time on loan at Valencia and Stuttgart before committing to Southampton for his whole seven-year career.
Before making his return to Barca, he spent a year at Girona, where he was an important player, clocking up more than 3,000 minutes to help take them to 10th place. When he made the move back to Barca, Pablo Torre, a 20-year-old midfielder, moved the other way on loan from Girona to Barca.
Barca said in a statement that Romeu “has great experience and knows the club from his previous spell as a blaugrana.” Romeu is also familiar with the playing style that Xavi Hernandez wants to instill in his team.
The midfielder has already demonstrated his capabilities in LaLiga and will seek to perform well from the very beginning of the season.
The club has put a buyout clause in his contract worth 400 million euros, which is equivalent to $449.12 million.
Romeu is the fifth player that Barcelona has brought in during the offseason, following Ilkay Gundogan, Inigo Martinez, and Vitor Roque, who will join the club in the following year.