Sevilla sign Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado
Sevilla completed the signing of Argentina defender Gabriel Mercado from River Plate on Thursday.
He moves to the Spanish club for a reported fee of €2.5 million as a replacement for their former captain, Coke, who sealed a move to Schalke earlier this week.
Mercado signed a three-year deal tying him to the club until 2019, with River retaining the rights to 20 percent of any sell-on transfers.
¡Bienvenido al #SevillaFC @GabeMadryn! 🙌🎉🔝⚽ pic.twitter.com/EhtWs9uol1
— Sevilla Fútbol Club (@SevillaFC) August 4, 2016
“Everything has happened so fast and I am feeling very anxious,” he told reporters.
“This is my first day, I passed my medical, signed the contract and this will be my first training.
“After that, I will find out which shirt is mine and I will put it away as a keepsake.”
The defender started his career at Racing before moving to Estudiantes in 2010 and on to River Plate two years later.
The 29-year-old won six trophies with the Buenos Aires club and was in the side who lost out to Barcelona in the 2015 Club World Cup final.
Mercado has 10 international caps to his name and was a key figure in Argentina’s recent Copa America Centenario campaign.
The right-back started five of Argentina’s six games at the tournament, in which they went down to Chile on penalties in the decider.
Mercado becomes Sevilla’s ninth signing of the off-season as they begin life under new coach Jorge Sampaoli.
