Barcelona B’s Álex Grimaldo has officially joined Portuguese club Benfica with a transfer fee of 1.5 million euros. Barcelona also gets a percentage on future sale. The deal does not include any buy-back option.

While most of the culés know the potential he possess and how he could bring a lot to the main team, unfortunately Barca’s board or Luis Enrique did not think the same. But if you think about it, Barcelona arguably has enough fullbacks and Grimaldo would've been relegated to the bench. And by the looks of things, the management is content with Adriano and Mathieu as Jordi Alba's backups.

Many people may not support the decision of letting him go. Now he can totally focus on playing his best football in a top league. He's just 20-years old and a well-known product of La Masia - So if he manages to show his worth around the coming years, there is no doubt that FC Barcelona will pay the amount needed to bring him back. If he fulfills his potential the club will end up bringing him back, unfortunately his release clause is €60m.

Grimaldo joined Barca’s youth system in 2008, when he was aged 13. He made his official debut for the B-team on 4th September 2011, starting in a 4–0 away win against FC Cartagena at the age of 15 years and 349 days, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in a Segunda Division game. He has played 92 official matches for Barça B, and the team lost only once in the 17 games in which he has been involved this term.