After battling with Barcelona about his exit for months, Martin Braithwaite appears to be leaving the Nou Camp at last.
When Braithwaite unexpectedly joined the team in February 2020, the transfer was permitted outside of the window since it was an emergency signing following Ousmane Dembele’s injury.
The Danish striker had been doing well at Leganes despite his disappointing time at Middlesborough, but it was still viewed as very much a stopgap transfer.
Get Instantly Update By: Joining Our Whatapps and Telegram Channel
Despite his decreasing relevance to the first team, especially with Robert Lewandowski joining this summer, the 31-year-old is still there two and a half years later.
The club had hoped that Braithwaite would be one of the players to go in order to remove his wages from their payroll, but he has previously refused.
On deadline day, reports claimed that he would no longer be leaving the city since he was planning to relocate to Espanyol and had already begun his physical.
Braithwaite has sat on the bench for the majority of his time. Picture: Alamy
His present team will pay a nominal sum to get him released from his contract, enabling him to sign with their regional rivals without incurring a transfer fee.
All parties involved will be relieved, including Barcelona supporters who recently jeered the former Toulouse striker during a friendly match against Mexican team Pumas UNAM.
The forward had previously been linked to Mallorca, but he was apparently seeking a pay increase before joining the island club.
Given their financial problems, which made it difficult to register players they signed this summer, Barca will be relieved that he is finally scheduled to depart.
With the addition of Lewandowski, Barcelona had even less need for Braithwaite. Picture: Alamy
Due to those problems, Jules Kounde’s club debut was delayed, but even when he was properly registered, Pablo Torre had to be transferred to the B squad.
Frenkie de Jong, who is still a fixture at the Nou Camp, is another player who Barcelona has worked hard to get rid of this summer.
The Dutchman traveled to England earlier this week, but it was not anticipated that he would arrive on deadline day to sign a contract; rather, he went to attend Donny van de Beek’s wedding.