Report: Barcelona Has Deal With Chinese Club Hebei Over Javier Mascherano Sale
Barcelona have come to an agreement with Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune for the transfer of Javier Mascherano, according to Goal.
The Argentinian midfielder-turned-defender is finally set to leave the Nou Camp after a highly successful stint - since arriving from Liverpool in 2010, the 33-year-old has won four La Liga titles, four Copas del Rey, three Supercopas de Espana and two Champions Leagues.
The fee in question is interesting - the clubs had been haggling with Barca not wanting to accept anything less than €10m and Hebei reluctant to exceed €5.77m.
They arrived at that particular figure because the Chinese Football Association announced last June that any club in the country's top two divisions making a loss and paying more than €5.77m for a foreign player has to put that same amount into a CFA youth development fund - if the report from Goal is to be believed, then evidently Hebei had no desire to do this.
The CFA made its voice heard on Tuesday by issuing a strong reminder to clubs regarding its transfer policy, amid stories that Guangzhou Evergrande and Beijing Guoan are locked in a battle to sign Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Mascherano will join up with compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi and former Arsenal winger Gervinho at Hebei, where he will rake in €7m-per-year.
The move signifies Mascherano moving into the final stages of his career following a fruitful period in Spain. In recent times the former Corinthians star has been playing less and less for Barca, with Samuel Umtiti emerging as a fine prospect in central defense for the Blaugrana alongside Gerard Pique.
