La Liga
Barcelona Sign Jeison Murillo From Valencia
Barcelona and Valencia have agreed to deal Colombian Jeison Murillo to the Catalan club in the winter transfer market.
The deal is said to be on a loan-base that would keep the Colombian defender in Barcelona until the end of the season.
Additionally, the Blaugrana side will have to pay 25m euros to Los Che to exercise the deal.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will have the purchase option on him should they like to keep him past this upcoming summer.
Is This Good For Barcelona?
Injuries on the defensive side have mounted for Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde. Thomas Vermaelen’s recurring injuries and the doubts over Samuel Umtiti’s knee injury have sparked the alarms at Camp Nou.
Additionally, the lack of confidence in Clément Lenglet and Gerard Piqué may have a great deal of concern as well. Despite this, Piqué has played every league game this season. Alongside him has been Lenglet with 10 appearances.
However, the relief players like Jorge Cuenca and Juan ‘Chumi’ Brandáriz have had little to no experience having played no minutes this season. However, a lot has been said about Chumi who has shown promises of a great back.
Who Is Jeison Murillo?
Murillo joins Barcelona after having spent the majority of the season on the bench. The center-back made just one appearance in league action this season, Gabriel Paulista and Ezequiel Garay taking the majority of the minutes at the position.
In addition to not having playing time, the 26-year-old has had some injury problems over the last year, giving him a chance to only play in 16 games in league play.
However, the most important thing to know about Murillo is his style of play. The Colombian has the qualities to adapt to the a Cule system that demands players to be capable of playing with their feet. Though he is quite small for a center-back at 6FT tall, he is a very strong player with a lot of upper body strength and very athletic to cope with a high line.
However, it is really hard to determine his recent form due to lack of game time he’s had this season. Many believe is him falling out of favor with with Valencia boss Marcelino. Last season, the player featured in 20 games and was certainly their main established back.
Given his qualities, he should be able to hold a backup role behind Piqué and Lenglet.
Reason Why To Sign Him?
Everything points out at the difficulty Barcelona has had at handling Ajax’s Matthjis de Ligt and Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen. This seems to be a temporary solution to their depth problems, rather than an answer to the real problem. Without being able to sign de Ligt and Christensen this winter transfer window, the Blaugranas will have to wait until the summer.
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