Barcelona brought forward their plans to sign Gremio midfielder Arthur Melo due to pressure from Manchester United.
Barca have agreed a €40m fee with Gremio in the last 24 hours for Arthur, who'll spend the year in Brazil before joining the Catalans next January.
Sport says Barca chiefs Robert Fernandez and Andre Cury have been in Brazil this week to thrash out terms, knowing they had to close an agreement with pressure arriving from England. United and Chelsea were both in contact with Gremio, with the former showing the greatest interest.
Arthur informed Robert before Christmas he wanted to sign for Barca, but due to no EU spots being available in their squad, Robert urged him to resist all offers over the January transfer window.
And with rival enquiries arriving from England, Barca chose to close a deal for Arthur this week.