Finally , Barcelona signed a new defender

officially , Jérémy Mathieu signed for Barcelona

The French Valencia defender Jeremy Mathieu, has signed a four-year contract with FC Barcelona, for 20 million EUR , announced Wednesday the catalan club.

FC Barcelona and Valencia have reached an agreement for the transfer of the French player Jeremy Mathieu, for the next four seasons" has announced Barcelona in a press release, which stated that "the cost of the transfer is 20 million EUR and that the clause of assignment will be 50 million euros"

"I have the chance to play in the biggest club in the world and that is what i wanted", said Mathieu last week .

With the arrival of Mathieu, who scored seven goals in five seasons he spent in Valencia ,where he played as a left back and a center back , FC Barcelona thus strengthened their defensive sector, after the retirement of their captain Carles Puyol at the end of last season.

In its press release, Barcelona, which expressed their interest for this player for several weeks, describes Mathieu as "a player who dominated the aerial game and renowned for his technique and placement".

The 30 years old Mathieu, had arrived in Valencia in June 2009, from Toulouse. The defender, which only has three games with the French National team, began his professional career at Sochaux, where he played his first game on August 3 ,2002 against Sedan, before joining Toulouse in 2005.