Barcelona announce £23.5m Sergino Dest transfer from Ajax with poignant social distancing video in empty Nou Camp
BARCELONA confirmed the signing of Sergino Dest from Ajax with a poignant video inside an empty Nou Camp.
The American right-back, 19, completed a transfer from the Dutch outfit on a five-year deal.
Welcome to the ???????????? World.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 1, 2020pic.twitter.com/mpPq0OwgGL
Barca beat Bayern Munich to Dest’s signature and paid £19million up front for him with an extra £4.5m in add-ons while his release clause is set at more than £360m.
He takes the No2 shirt vacated by Nelson Semedo, who joined Wolves in September.
And Barcelona announced the deal with a special video on Twitter.
Captioned “Shhhhh…” the clip showed Dest walking out of the tunnel, up the steps on to the Nou Camp pitch.
With the ground empty, the only noise in the video is Dest’s footsteps and whispering: “Wow… unbelievable,” as he takes it all in.
Ajax, in typical classy fashion, replied: “Take care of him.”
A second video released by the LaLiga giants captured the new signing making his way to the stadium, in the changing room and then in his kit on the pitch doing skills with the ball.
Born in Almere, Netherlands, Dest joined the Ajax academy nine years ago and progressed through the ranks before making his first-team debut in July.
Most read in Football
He made 35 appearances last term, scoring twice and assisting six, as his performances attracted the attention of the Catalan club.
And the teenager – who opted to represent the USA in international football and has three senior caps – took to Twitter for the first time to say thank you to Ajax.
He shared an emotional video with a series of photo and short clips of his time at the Amsterdam club.
Dest wrote: “Just a boy from Almere Stad who grew up with a dream of playing for Ajax.
“I’m blessed to have represented this club for the last nine years.
“Thank you to everyone at Ajax, and a special mention to the fans, you will always hold a special place in my heart.”
Just a boy from Almere Stad who grew up with a dream of playing for Ajax. I’m blessed to have represented this club for the last 9 years. Thank you to everyone at Ajax, and a special mention to the fans, you will always hold a special place in my heart.
— Sergiño Dest (@sergino_dest) October 1, 2020@AFCAjax
pic.twitter.com/ScV5wkhe1X