


FC Barcelona have announced a new signing on Tuesday.
FC Barcelona have announced a new signing on Tuesday ahead of the Joan Gamper Trophy match.
The announcement was made through an official club email in Catalan which was sent to members of the press approaching 15.00 CEST.
Barca explained that they had reached an agreement to pay €2.5 million ($2.75 million) for Noah Darvich from SC Freiburg.
Darvich, an U17 Euros winner this summer with his country, is regarded as one of the most promising talents in German football.
He will sign a four-year contract until June 30,2026 with the Blaugrana, who have beaten the likes of Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Ajax to his signature.
The 16-year-old of Iranian descent will be assigned to the Barca Atletic reserve team and is described as a, "technically gifted" goalscoring and "versatile" player who can operate both as an interior or on the wing.
Transfer market Fabrizio Romano was the first to exclusively report news of Barca closing in on Darvich and said that club sources had confirmed to him the deal was already done.
Shortly after, Mundo Deportivo reported Barca would hand over €3 million ($3.3 million) to secure the 2006-born prodigy described as one of the most promising players in his position.
Barca have pulled off a coup by not just beating a string of top clubs to Darvich but also paying less for him than expected.
Aware that they can't compete with state-backed clubs like City and PSG for existing top talents sold for premiums, the Blaugrana have developed a new transfer policy of picking up emerging talents on the cheap.
This was seen at turn of the decade with Pedri and Ronald Araujo, who cost roughly €5 million ($5.5 million) but have since become two of the best players in the world in their areas of the pitch and established starters under Xavi Hernandez.
While Pedri was instantly promoted to the first team under Ronald Koeman, Darvich will look to echo Araujo's trajectory by initially cutting his teeth in the reserve team.
Over the course of the 2023/2024 campaign, he could be called up to train on occasion with the senior squad on Xavi's orders then taken on next year's preseason tour as recently seen with the likes of Fermin Lopez and Mika Faye.
One day, Darvich will hope to partner Pedri in attacking midfield as compatriot Ilkay Gundogan, double his age at 32, is probably winding down a storied career.