Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 6y

Barcelona allow Aleix Vidal to leave U.S. tour to seal Sevilla move - sources

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Barcelona have given Aleix Vidal permission to leave the team's training camp in the United States and return to Europe, where sources have confirmed to ESPN FC he will finalise a move to Sevilla.

Sevilla will pay a fee in the region of €10 million to re-sign Vidal, who left the club in 2015 for Barca.

Vidal, 28, will land in Barcelona on Saturday before completing a medical and finalising his return to the Sanchez Pizjuan.

Therefore, he will not be available for Barca's game against AC Milan at Levi's Stadium this weekend, making his appearance in Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Roma his last for the club.

Barca paid Sevilla €18m for Vidal three years ago with the idea of converting him into Dani Alves' long-term replacement at right-back.

However, as the club were serving a transfer ban at the time, he was forced to spend six months on the sidelines before he could be officially registered.

Once he was granted permission to play in January 2016, though, he failed to recapture the form he had shown at Sevilla which saw him called up to the Spain squad.

Under Luis Enrique, he was used at right-back and, just when he looked to be re-finding his best form, he dislocated his ankle against Alaves in 2017, ruling him out for six months.

Ernesto Valverde has preferred to use him further forward as a winger, but the signings of Ousmane Dembele and Malcom have left him surplus to requirements.

Vidal is set to become new Sevilla coach Pablo Machin's sixth signing of the summer, following the arrivals of Sergi Gomez, Roque Mesa, Tomas Vaclik, Joris Gnagnon and Ibrahim Amadou.

Meanwhile, he becomes the second player to leave Barca this week after Lucas Digne joined Premier League side Everton.

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