Marc Bartra to leave Barcelona as Dortmund trigger buyout clause
Marc Bartra will leave Barcelona after Borussia Dortmund activated the player's €8 million release clause, the Catalan club confirmed .
La Masia graduate Bartra has been a first-team squad member at Barca for six years, playing more than 100 senior games, but without ever really nailing down a first-team spot.
"FC Barcelona announce that German club Borussia Dortmund have informed them of their desire to activate the buy out clause for the player Marc Bartra, according to which the Club is obliged to facilitate the transfer of the player for the price of 8 million euros," the statement said.
[BREAKING NEWS] @MarcBartra to leave @FCBarcelona More info soon #ThanksMarc #FCBLive pic.twitter.com/YnwYM0JEW3
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 3, 2016
The 25-year-old had been fifth choice for Barca coach Luis Enrique behind Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Thomas Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu during the 2015-16 season, completing 90 minutes just seven times across all competitions over the campaign.
Bartra last week said that playing so few games last season meant his release clause had been reduced to just €8m, which fueled initial speculation from potential suitors such as Tottenham, Liverpool, Valencia and Sevilla.
Dortmund said in a statement that details still needed to be worked out with Barcelona over Bartra's contract but the German club later posted a photo of the player signing a contract on Instagram.
BVB und Marc Bartra einigen sich auf Vier-Jahres-Vertrag. ����
A photo posted by Borussia Dortmund (@bvb09) on
Barcelona director Robert Fernandez said on Thursday that defender Dani Alves was also leaving after winning 23 titles in eight years with the Spanish champions, while striker Neymar was set to renew his contract.
Dortmund were also busy on Thursday, with midfielder Ilkay Gundogan joining Manchester City on a four-year deal.
