Barcelona beat Real Madrid to Gomes signing

Barcelona have beaten arch-rivals Real Madrid to the signing of midfielder Andre Gomes from Valencia.

In a statement released late on 21 July, the Catalan giants said they had reached a formal agreement with Valencia for the transfer and that the Portugal international will be officially unveiled at Camp Nou next week.

Gomes is Luis Enrique's fourth signing of the summer after midfielder Denis Suarez and French defenders Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne.

Spanish daily AS reported that the transfer fee paid by Barcelona for Gomes could reach around €55m.

Reports earlier in the week suggested that Real were close to signing Gomes for a transfer fee of around €50m, with an additional €10m in performance-related add-ons.

Chelsea and Manchester United both had bids rejected for Gomes, according to the Sun, while Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain were also linked with him.

Gomes, 22, made five appearances for Portugal in their triumphant Euro 2016 campaign in France. He played 30 league games for Valencia last season, scoring three goals.

Madrid set-back

"FC Barcelona and Valencia CF have reached an agreement that will bring Andre Gomes to the Catalan capital," Barcelona said.

"Gomes will formalise the deal and be officially presented as a new FC Barcelona player next week."

Marca reported that Madrid approached Valencia over Gomes last summer but were told to pay €80m to sign him.

The paper claimed that the Mestalla club's position had softened since then as they are in need of funds to make up for their failure to qualify for European football.

Real president Florentino Perez's good relationship with Valencia owner Peter Lim was thought to give the Madrid club the edge in signing Gomes.

But the midfielder's decision to sign for the Catalan giants is a major setback for Real, who also look set to lose out on Paul Pogba to Manchester United.

The 11-time European champions are yet to make a signing in the summer transfer window, save for buying back Alvaro Morata from Juventus.