Madrid (AFP)

Barcelona midfielder Arthur Arthur has been transferred to Juventus Turin for 72 million euros, the Catalan club announced on Monday, while Bosnian Miralem Pjanic will travel in the opposite direction.

The transfer, announced imminent for a few days by the press of the two countries, has reached a very high amount, because we must add to the 72 million euros paid by Juve 10 million bonus.

This places this transaction at heights higher than those reached by the activation of the purchase option of the Argentinian Mauro Icardi (Inter Milan) at Paris SG (less than 60 M EUR) and the arrival of the German Timo Werner (Leipzig) at Chelsea (EUR 60 million), the two main agreements of this post-coronavirus period in football.

Barça said in a statement that Arthur would however remain under the blaugranas colors until the end of the competitions of the 2019-20 season, which will allow him to perform his last performances at Barça during the final phase of the League champions in August.

- Pjanic expected -

The Italian champion must nevertheless quickly see his boxes fill up, because one of his midfielder Pjanic (30) must, according to the press, make the journey Turin-Barcelona shortly.

Arthur, 23, has played 20 games with his national team, and 28 this season with Barça, with four goals on the clock in all competitions.

He had joined the Catalan club two years earlier from Gremio with the hard task of succeeding the legend Xavi, but without establishing himself as an indisputable holder of the dense Barcelona environment, but by multiplying the appearances.

His departure once again shines the spotlight on the management of the Lionel Messi club, whose recent choices on the transfer market have been criticized, with little success.

This however relieves the finances, hard hit by the consequences of the pandemic: the benefits may indeed be recorded in the budget for this season, pending the transfer of Pjanic whose payment will be spread, according to the local press.

A similar exchange had been concluded last year by Barça with Valencia for goalkeepers Jasper Cillessen and Neto, now a lining for Marc-André ter Stegen.

The Catalan club must play a round of 16 return from C1 against Naples (go: 1-1) before hoping to play victory in an unprecedented eight-club tournament scheduled for Lisbon from August 12 to 23.

Juve is also still in the running, with an 8th return to play against Lyon (1-0 defeat in the first leg in France).

© 2020 AFP