Barcelona starlet Munir El Haddadi agrees loan move to Valencia

Barcelona's promising youngster Munir El Haddadi has agreed a loan move to Valencia for the rest of the 2016-2017 campaign, with Los Che keeping open an option to secure his services on a permanent basis at the end of the season for €12m (£10.2m, $13.4m). Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Stoke City and Celta Vigo had been linked with the 20-year-old forward in recent days but he has opted for a move to Mestalla to replace Paco Alcacer, who earlier on Tuesday (30 August) went in the opposite direction to the Nou Camp.

Munir was once touted as one of the next big things to emerge from the prolific La Masia academy after he made an impressive breakthrough into the first-team in the 2014-2015 campaign, making a shock debut with the Spanish national team during that season despite being a teenager.

The talented forward has since served as standby for the MSN triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, scoring 10 goals in 45 appearances for the club with many of them as a substitute. Barcelona manager Luis Enrique looked to have a big faith in his future after the club signed him on a new deal until 2019, setting his release clause at €60m (£51.7m, $67.7m).

However, his future at the Nou Camp has since come under scrutiny after it emerged that Barcelona wanted to sign Alcacer to be the backup striker this season. Reports in Spain claimed Barcelona were set to send Munir on loan to continue his development before having the chance to establish himself at the Nou Camp.

Sport claimed that Everton, Stoke City, Celta Vigo and Valencia were monitoring the situation but added the player could make a "surprising move" to Tottenham instead.

The Spanish publication claimed that Spurs were seriously considering making an offer to sign the Barcelona starlet as Mauricio Pochettino was still keen on bolstering his attack. However, it was said that Tottenham's reluctance to accept a buy-back option in the transfer forced the Catalans to search for other alternatives.

Celta Vigo was then rumoured to be on the verge of securing his services on loan. However, Valencia has finally won the race after Barcelona agreed to send the player to Los Che on loan, with a purchase option at the end of the campaign. Furthermore, the Catalans have a first option over Munir regarding a future sale but Valencia have refused to give them a buy-back option.

"FC Barcelona and Valencia CF have reached an agreement for the loan of the player Munir for the season 2016/17," the La Liga giants confirmed. "The club from Valencia will take over the player's contract for the season at the end of which Valencia CF will have the option to buy the player for the figure of 12 million euros. FC Barcelona would be eligible for a percentage of any future transfer away from Valencia due to an agreed sell-on clause."