Barcelona confirm double transfer following defender's £7.3m move

Barcelona confirmed two departures this week with Konrad de la Fuente and Matheus Fernandes leaving the club. It was the club's third outgoing move of the summer with Jean-Clair Todibo making his loan to OGC Nice permanent for a fee of around €8.5 million (£7.3m) plus add-ons earlier this month.

De la Fuente made his debut for the Barcelona first-team during the 2020-21 campaign after impressing for the Barcelona B side. He made appearances for the Catalan club in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

"FC Barcelona and Olympique de Marseille have reached an agreement for the transfer of Konrad de la Fuente for 3 million euros. Barça will retain a percentage of any future sale of the the player," the Catalan club said via a statement on Tuesday.

Marseille confirmed the move for the left-winger with De la Fuente becoming the first American to represent the club in over 50 years. He will wear the number 20 shirt for the Ligue 1 club in the 2021-22 campaign.

De La Fuente joined Barcelona as a 10-year-old and came up through the ranks to make his debut for the first-team this season. He has also represented the United States in their youth teams and was recently capped by the senior national team.

The second departure of the week, Fernandes, arrived from Brazilian club Palmeiras in the summer of 2020. The Catalan giants paid €7 million plus €3 million in add-ons for the Brazilian midfielder.

The 23-year-old was touted as a long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets but failed to impress the coaching staff since his arrival. Fernandes is the first player in the club's history not to be presented upon his signing, while his sole appearance came in the Champions League against Dynamo Kiev.

Barcelona have been looking to offload him but after failing to receive any offers for the midfielder, - who managed just 17 minutes of football - they have decided to terminate his contract that was valid until 2025.

"FC Barcelona has informed Brazilian player Matheus Fernandes that the club no longer requires his services and is terminating the contract he had until June 2025," the La Liga club said in a statement this week.

Todibo, De la Fuente and Fernandes are expected to be the first of many to walk out of the Camp Nou doors this summer. Junior Firpo is close to joining Leeds United, while the likes of Neto, Philippe Coutinho and Samuel Umtiti are also up for sale.