BARCELONA: Barcelona have completed the signing of Portugal midfielder Andre Gomes from Valencia on a five-year contract, the Spanish champions said on Wednesday.

Neither club released any financial details but Marca reported that Gomes cost 50 million euros ($54.99 million).

Barca had reached agreement with Valencia last week to acquire the 22-year-old, who was in the Portugal squad at Euro 2016 where the country won their first major title.

He came off the bench in Portugal’s 2-0 semi-final win over Wales but did not appear in the final against hosts France.

Attacking midfielder Gomes had been linked to Barca’s arch-rivals Real Madrid and Manchester United after an impressive two seasons at Valencia who he joined from Benfica.

Gomes, who started 27 Liga games for Valencia in the 2015-16 campaign, becomes Barca’s fourth close-season signing after the arrival of Samuel Umtiti, Denis Suarez and Lucas Digne.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2016