Official: Barcelona bring Emerson Royal back from Real Betis

Robin Bairner

• 2 Jun 2021 10:06 BST
• 4 min read

Barcelona have confirmed that Emerson Royal will join the club after a stint with Real Betis.

Although Emerson has officially been a Barcelona player since July 2019, when he arrived for €12.7 million from Atletico Mineiro, he has spent his two years since moving onto the club’s books with the Seville side.

READ MORE: Barcelona president Laporta promises flurry of signings after Aguero deal confirmed

Real Betis paid 50% of that transfer fee, with Barca having the option to sign him in the summer of 2021 for €6m. It is this clause that has allowed Emerson to move freely to Camp Nou at this point, although sources in the Spanish media suggest that Barca have paid €9m for the player.

Indeed, Emerson has actually been at Betis for the last three seasons, having spent the first purely on loan from Atletico Mineiro.

The 22-year-old right-back, however, is a Barcelona player now.

On the club’s official website, a statement reads: “FC Barcelona have informed Real Betis Balompié that they exercising their right to bring back Emerson Royal from 1 July after two seasons on loan at the Andalusian club.”

Why have Barcelona signed Emerson Royal?

Emerson has joined Barcelona to provide competition in the right-back berth to Sergino Dest, whose attacking qualities were evident last season but who was not as strong defensively.

The Brazilian is another exceptionally strong offensive option from deep. Indeed, he has five goals and 10 assists to his name since moving to Real Betis, achieved over 79 appearances. As Barcelona point out, only Jordi Alba, Sevilla’s Jesus Navas and Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier have provided more assists from defence in the last couple of years.

Emerson’s career stats

Indeed, Emerson also proved to be remarkably durable in a position in which there is much placed upon an ability to cover the whole right side of the park. With 3,186 minutes, no other outfield player at Real Betis featured more.

For a relatively cheap fee of €6m, Barcelona’s squad building for next term continues in an encouraging manner and at a good pace. Emerson is their third signing of the summer, with Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia having arrived on free transfers from Manchester City earlier this week.