Barca sign Sevilla wing-back Vidal

FC Barcelona have signed Sevilla wing-back Alex Vidal on a five-year contract, the club confirmed late on Sunday night as club was celebrating its League, Cup and Champions League treble.

The former Mallorca and Almeria player, who has cost around 17 million euros (around 19 million US dollars), becomes the first summer signing for the newly crowned Champions League winners. However, he will not be able to play for them until January 2016 as a result of the current FIFA ban on inscribing new players imposed on the club as the result of irregularities regarding the signing of foreign players for the Barca the youth system.

25-year-old Vidal, who is from the Catalan region of Spain, has enjoyed a breakthrough season with Sevilla playing a major role as the club finished fifth in the BBVA Primera Liga and retained the Europa League under the guidance of Unai Emery.

He has just won his debut call up into the Spain squad for the friendly matches against Costa Rica and the Euro 2016 qualifying game against Belarus.

With Dani Alves looking likely to leave Barcelona at the end of the month after failing to reach agreement on a new deal, Barcelona have moved to sign a long-term replacement, although it is not certain whether they will loan him to a different club until they are able to inscribe him into their squad in January or whether Vidal will have to settle for spending the intervening months merely training with his new companions.

Elsewhere Barca midfielder Andres Iniesta has been forced to pull out of the Spain squad as a result of his muscle problems. Iniesta, who was voted man of the match as Barca won the Champions League on Saturday night, has been struggling for fitness for several weeks. Endi