Barcelona bring back Emerson Royal from Real Betis

Spanish club FC Barcelona on Wednesday informed Real Betis that they are exercising their right to bring back Emerson Royal from July 1 after two seasons on loan at the Andalusian club.

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 14, 1999, Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior, better known as Emerson Royal, is an attacking right-back who will be involved in the upcoming Copa America with the Brazilian national team.

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"The defender will bring pace and an attacking dimension to the right-wing as the Brazilian has scored five goals and created 10 assists with Betis, the club at which he has played since a three-way agreement was reached, involving Atletico Mineiro in January 2019," Barcelona said in an official statement.

Before joining Betis, Emerson Royal spent time playing for Ponte Preta and then Atletico Mineiro back in his native Brazil. He made his Brazilian league debut in the Paulista championship in February 2017 before joining Atletico the following year where he began to attract interest from clubs in Europe.

Once at Betis, Emerson became a fixture in the side and made 79 appearances in two and a half seasons at the Seville club. Last season, he helped the team coached by Manuel Pellegrini to a sixth-place finish in La Liga and a place in the Europa League for next season. The Brazilian played a total of 3,186 minutes for Betis last season, more than any other player at the club.

Over the last two seasons only Barca's Jordi Alba, Sevilla's Jesus Navas and Atletico Madrid's Kieran Trippier have provided more assists than Emerson's 10 as a defender.

With the Brazilian national side, he has been an ever-present since U-20 level and he made his debut for the full national team in November 2019 in a friendly match against South Korea. This summer, he could take part in his first Copa America.