On Wednesday, Andre Gomes, who signed a five-year contract with Barcelona, answered questions from the media at a special press conference held on the same day. From now on, the new 22-year-old midfielder has a release clause of 100 million euros. "We paid 35 million euros for Andre. In the agreement with Valencia, there is also an additional maximum payment of 20 million euros, which depends on both the player himself and the team's results. Considering that A. Gomes is a young and talented player, there is also a special 15 million euros bonus if the player reaches the final three in the Golden Ball awards and wins the prize," - announced Albert Soler, the head of Barcelona's professional sports section, about the details of the Portuguese acquisition deal at the press conference. According to A. Soler, despite the fact that some players from the Catalan club will leave the team this summer, no player participated in the deal, i.e., Barcelona did not engage in exchange transactions with additional payments. The new Barcelona player thanked the team leaders for their trust and noted that his choice was influenced by several important factors. "I want to say that my greatest support comes from my family. Without the support and understanding of my relatives, I would not have achieved what I have achieved now. Playing for Barcelona is truly a dream come true," said A. Gomes. - I know that I still have a lot to learn and prove my worth to the coach and my teammates". Leandro, a technical secretary of Barcelona, revealed that the Catalan club's scouts have been monitoring A. Gomes's progress for a long time. "This was not a spontaneous decision. We have been watching Andre for a long time. It's true at first we didn't think of buying another midfielder, but at the beginning of the summer we mentioned that "there could be all kinds of purchases". As soon as the opportunity to acquire A. Gomes arose, we decided to take advantage of it," said Leandro. There was a lot of buzz in the media about the announcement that Barcelona had beaten Portugal from the clutches of Madrid's Real, which allegedly had already reached an agreement with the player. "When I realized that I had the opportunity to move to Barca, I was very happy and didn't hesitate. Barcelona or Real Madrid? I prefer Barcelona because I think our game concepts and philosophies overlap. My choice was also greatly influenced by the fact that now I will play in the same team with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta. These are players I learned from before, and now I hope to learn even more," assured the Portuguese. At the press conference, Soler and Fernandez also had to answer questions about the team's future recruitment plans. According to Barcelona's leaders, the club has no plans to part ways with Arda Turan, who did not perform well in the second part of last season. Also, as Fernandez said, the Catalan club does not plan to sell any midfielders. "The team will definitely be complemented by an attacker, and this will be the last purchase this summer. We have time until the first of August and will choose the most suitable candidate from those available in the market. Barcelona already has three very good attackers, so finding a quality substitute for them is not very easy. Those who want to play here will play at Barca," assured Fernandez.
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