'Happy story of a dream come true': Emerson reacts to joining Barca
"Happy story of a dream come true... Visca el Barca!" Emerson Royal tweeted after joining Barcelona on Wednesday.
The Catalans have exercised their option to bring the right-back back to Camp Nou after his two-year loan at Betis. He's put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the Blaugrana.
Barca and Betis paid half of the €12m transfer fee for the Brazilian's move from Atletico Mineiro in 2019. The 22-year-old's move to Camp Nou cost the Catalans €9m, as per reports.
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If Emerson was Barca's player, why did we still SIGN him from Real Betis? You asked – we answered
"I still don't get it... why did Barca SIGN Emerson? Wasn't he already a Barca player on loan at Betis?" Tribuna.com user frankie teardrop is asking.
Let us now describe Emerson's deal in detail.
Barcelona and Real Betis joined forces to bring Emerson from Brazil to La Liga in 2019, Barca owning 50 per cent of the player rights and Betis 20.
The two parties decided in favour of a 2-year loan that would see Emerson come back to Camp Nou in 2021.
Barca wanted to actually own the player so they triggered the option of purchasing the further 30 per cent of the player rights – they now own 80%.
To trigger this option, the Catalans paid Betis €9m.
Besides, Betis will reportedly keep 50 percent of any future transfer fee for the 22-year-old.
Thus, Betis will still be getting some money for Emerson under the latter's contract with Barca but the right-back mostly belongs to Blaugrana now.
3 big stats prove we were totally right to sign Emerson
It's been a while since we had a wing-back who's good both defensively and offensively.
Seems like Emerson is the solution on the right side. Here are three big stats that perfectly display his immense defensive contribution.
Most tackles in 2020/21 La Liga
1. Javi Galan (Huesca) - 109
2. Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis) - 105
3. Emerson (Real Betis) - 96
4. Alfonso Espino (Cadiz) - 92
5. Casemiro (Real Madrid) - 89
Most interceptions in 2020/21 La Liga
1. Emerson (Real Betis) - 67
2. Casemiro (Real Madrid) - 61
3. Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis) - 58
4. Florian Lejeune (Alaves) - 58
5. Ximo Navarro (Alaves) - 57
Most tackles + interceptions in 2020/21 La Liga
1. Emerson (Real Betis) - 163
2. Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis) - 163
3. Casemiro (Real Madrid) - 150
4. Alfonso Espino (Cadiz) - 138
5. Javi Galan (Huesca) - 137
As a reminder, Emerson has been officially announced as Barca's new signing.