Barcelona seal shock loan signing of Boateng

Barcelona have confirmed the shock signing of the January transfer window so far with former Tottenham and Portsmouth forward Kevin-Prince Boateng joining on loan until the end of the season.

The club have brought the striker in to replace Munir El Haddadi who moved to Sevilla two weeks ago.

They looked at a host of attackers but after ruling out Fernando Llorente, Alvaro Morata, Olivier Giroud and former Middlesbrough forward Cristhian Stuani they moved for the Ghanaian international.

The 31-year-old said goodbye to team-mates at Italian club Sassuolo on Monday morning and jetted into Barcelona ahead of his presentation on Tuesday.

As is customary, Boateng was revealed through a snappy announcement video featuring Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique.

A notification pings up on the screen before a kit is laid out and a message declaring: ‘Wilkommen Kevin-Prince! Enjoy football, enjoy Barca!’ before ending on a photo of the new man in a Barcelona kit.

A statement from Barcelona on Monday said: ‘Barcelona and Sassuolo have reached an agreement for the loan of Kevin Prince-Boateng for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. The deal includes the option to buy the player for 8m euros (£7.1m).’

He has scored goals in four different leagues including Spain, Germany, Italy and England.

He has scored five goals in 15 games at Sassuolo in all competitions this season playing in a false nine position that Barcelona will want to use him when Suarez is resting.

Boateng could debut on Wednesday when Barcelona play their first-leg Copa del Rey quarter-final against Sevilla.