Striker, who made official debut at Mestalla, puts pen to paper in company of president Joan Laporta, vice-president Rafa Yuste and director of the football area, Deco

hese are exciting days in the life of . After playing for Barça Atlètic on loan from Girona last season and having a great preseason with the senior squad, leading the Barça goal count with three, and making his official first team debut when he came on against Valencia on Saturday, this Friday he made it all official by signing his permanent Barça first team contract in the head offices at Spotify Camp Nou.

The striker put pen to paper in company of president Joan Laporta, vice-president Rafa Yuste and director of the football area, Deco, as well as members of his family, in a deal that ties him to the club until 2029.

New first team captains confirmed

Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Pedri have been named for the 2024/25 season

The captain’s of the FC Barcelona men’s first team have been announced for the 2024/25 season. In order of choice, these are Marc-André ter Stegen, Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and Pedri, as voted by the squad members themselves.

Now that Sergi Roberto has departed, Ter Stegen takes over as the chief captain, a function that was previously served by Gerard Piqué before he too retired from first team duty. Ter Stegen was the second choice last season, but is already very used to serving as captain whenever Roberto was unavailable or not selected. The German stopper has been at Barça since 2014/15 and has played 414 times.

The knock-on effect means that Ronald Araujo, with 150 appearances, and Frenkie de Jong, with 213, move up one position each in the pecking order, with Raphinha and Pedri being the ‘new entries’ in fourth and fifth. The Brazilian has gained much impact and respect among his team-mates after 88 games in two seasons, and despite his youth, the Canary Islander is already a widely revered figure at the club after 144 official appearances

Agreement with Manchester City for transfer of Gündoğan

German midfielder played 51 games for Barça in the 2023/24 season

FC Barcelona and Manchester City have reached an agreement for the transfer of first team player Ilkay Gündoğan.

The club publicly expresses its gratitude to Gündoğan for his commitment and dedication and wishes him every fortune in the future, both personally and professionally.

One season in blaugrana

Gündoğan arrived at the club from Manchester City in the summer of 2023, and played 51 games in his single season, including 36 in La Liga, and 10 in the Champions League.

He proved to be an essential component of the midfield, being one of the most used players by Xavi Hernández, who highly appreciated his ability to read the game and lead the team. He provided five goals (all in the league) and 14 assists (9 in the league, 4 in the UCL and one in the Super Cup).