<
>

Jeremy Mathieu signs for Sporting Lisbon after Barcelona rescind deal

Jeremy Mathieu has completed a move to Sporting Lisbon after Barcelona agreed to rescind his contract with the club.

Mathieu, 33, joins the Portuguese side on a two-year deal and his release clause has been fixed at €60 million.

Barca confirmed last weekend that the defender, whose contract at the Camp Nou was due to expire next summer, would be allowed to join Sporting on trial and that they were hopeful it would lead to a permanent deal.

The Catalan club's decision to sign Marlon Santos on a permanent basis had left Mathieu surplus to requirements and new coach Ernesto Valverde was happy for him to leave.

Mathieu joined Barca from Valencia in 2014 for €20m and made 91 appearances in his three seasons at the club.

However, his career has been blighted by injuries in the last 18 months and he made just 16 appearances in all competitions last season, last playing in the 3-0 Champions League loss to Juventus in April.

The arrival of Mathieu comes after Sporting completed a loan move for Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao earlier this week.

Reports in the Spanish and Portuguese media have claimed that Madrid will pay 90 percent of Coentrao's salary during his season at Sporting.