Barcelona confirm signing of Emre Demir from Kayserispor

Barcelona have confirmed they have struck a deal to sign Kayserispor starlet Emre Demir, who will join the Catalan side next summer.

The 17-year-old attacking midfielder made his senior debut for Kayserispor all the way back in January 2019 and has since gone on to become the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Turkish Super Lig, having fired home against Genclerbirligi in November of that year.

His emergence caught Barcelona's eye and the Blaugrana have now confirmed on their official website that they have snapped Demir up for a cool €2m (£1.7m) and handed him a contract until 2027 with a whopping €400m (£342m) release clause.

As part of the deal, Demir will remain with Kayserispor until the end of the season, at which point he will jet off to join up with Barcelona's B side.

Described as a "skilful left-footed attacking midfielder who can also play anywhere in the frontline", Demir has managed 31 appearances for the Turkish side so far, six of which were league starts, and he has chimed in with three goals and an assist for good measure.

Those in charge at Camp Nou have been making a clear effort to bolster their ranks with some exciting young stars. The B team have added the likes of Abde Ezzalzouli and in-demand French starlet Kays Ruiz-Atil, while Austrian winger Yusuf Demir was signed for the reserves but has spent most of his time with Ronald Koeman's senior side.

That Demir joined on a season-long loan from Rapid Vienna which includes an option to buy for €10m (£8.5m) and Barcelona will likely trigger that, having seen the teenager appear in both La Liga and the Champions League already this season.

With money for expensive senior signings hard to come by these days, Barcelona are looking to build a new, young core and are already seeing some solid results.

Star midfielder Pedri and winger Ansu Fati are the obvious headline attractions, but defenders Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza are both first-team regulars as well and youngsters like Alejandro Balde and Gavi are both flirting with breakthroughs of their own.