Portuguese on the move: Barcelona seal Francisco Trincão deal, Cédric Soares heads to Arsenal

A busy end to the transfer window for Portuguese players concluded on Friday with Barcelona confirming a deal for Braga youngster Francisco Trincão, while in England Cédric Soares joined Arsenal on a loan deal from Southampton.

The moves came the day after Bruno Fernandes completed his move from Sporting to Manchester United and Daniel Podence arrived at Wolverhampton Wanderers from Olympiacos in Greece. In total the deals meant that over €100m was spent on Portuguese players across the last couple of days of the window, with the figure to rise when further performance and appearance related clauses are met.

Barcelona announced the signing of Trincão for a fee of €31m on a five-year contract, with the 20-year-old spending the rest of the season at Braga before moving to Camp Nou in the summer. Trincão, who was a key player in Portugal U21’s European Championship winning side in 2018, has signed a contract with a release clause of €500m.

On confirming the transfer, Barca described Trincão as “quick and technically gifted with a vision that means he is a great creator of goals as well” before adding that he “also has the ability to take defenders on with his dribbling skills.”

Meanwhile, Cédric Soares landed at Arsenal on a six-month loan deal from Southampton, where his contract will expire in the summer. Cédric becomes Mikel Arteta’s second signing at the club and admitted on his unveiling that joining Arsenal is somewhat overdue.

"It has been a while, to be fair," he told Arsenal Player. "We were close a few years ago, so it's not the first time. It didn't happen that time but now thank God it came true. I'm super happy.
 
"Obviously it was important for me in my career to come here. Southampton gave me the opportunity to play in the Premier League but obviously it's amazing this step, to come here and play for Arsenal.
 
"To be able to reach this point is unbelievable. One hundred per cent that I will give all my best every day and every game," he added. "I try to be a guy with energy, a player that goes up and down. I like to consider myself a team player and yes, what can I say? It's difficult when you need to talk about yourself! But again, I will give my 100 per cent for the team and for the fans."

By Sean Gillen

@SeanGillen9