FC Barcelona’s second choice goalkeeper, Jasper Cillessen leaves the Catalan club after 3 years.
The Dutch goalkeeper will join Valencia in a 4 year contract. Valencia confirmed the signing from Barcelona for a fee of €35 million with his release clause set at €80 million.
The 30 year goalkeeper would play ahead of Brazilian goalkeeper Neto who is set to leave Mestalla and rumours say he would head to Barcelona as a backup for Marc Andre Ter Stegen in a similar deal.
Jasper Cillessen was signed by F.C Barcelona from Ajax in 2016, when they triggered his €13 million release clause . He made 150 appearances for Ajax playing 6 seasons and winning 3 Eredivisie titles.
Cillessen has won 48 international caps for the Netherlands National team and is their number one choice from 2013.
In the three years in F.C Barcelona, Cillessen played a total of 32 games. He made five starts in La Liga, three in the Champions League, and 24 in the Copa del Rey, in which he was the regular goalkeeper.During the three seasons he won five titles at Barca, including 2 La Liga titles, 2 Copa del Rey, and 1 Spanish Super Cup.
The 30 year goalkeeper wanted more playing time and had decided to move away from Camp Nou before the 2018 season ended. He played his last game for Barcelona against Valencia in the Copa Del Rey final loss. Top European clubs wanted to sign him before his move was finalised to Valencia. SL Benfica had placed an initial bid of €12 million which was way less than the valuation made by Barca for him.