Emerson set to be Barcelona's first signing ahead of the 2021-22 season

Even though there's one game to go, Barcelona's 2020-21 season is over. With no chance to fight for the title, they're guaranteed to finish third and can start thinking about next season, when they will be obliged to improve on how they have finished the current campaign. Work has begun behind the scenes on building a more competitive and balanced squad.

In this sense, Cadena SER report that Emerson Royal will be the first signing. Barça signed the Brazilian right-back in 2019 and loaned him to Real Betis. If they want to obtain 100 percent of his rights, they will have to pay €9 million to Betis or try and include another player in the operation. Juan Miranda has spent the season on loan at Betis, where they've been happy with him, and could feature in a possible deal.

According to the cited media, Emerson will do preseason with Barça, who have been impressed by his progress since arriving in Spain and feel he could add a lot to the current squad. The player already has a house in Barcelona and feels more than ready to take the next step in his career and to compete for a place at Camp Nou. In principle, he will take part in the Olympics with Brazil in Japan before joining Barça. He could also feature in the Copa America, although the normal scenario is that players choose one or the other.

He's played an important role for Betis this season, with 3.091 minutes spread across 37 appearances. He's scored twice and set up four goals.