Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg have signed Colombian defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios from Boca Juniors on a four and a half year deal. Zenit have signed the Colombian as a replacement for Leandro Paredes who recently signed for PSG.
Several clubs including Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham were interested in signing Barrios. However, it is the Saint Petersburg outfit who have acquired his signature.
Barrios joined Boca Juniors from Colombian club Deportes Tolima and made 60 appearances for the club, scoring a goal and providing two assists. He helped Boca Juniors to win the Argentine Primera Division in the 2016-17 season. This season, he has made only 6 appearances for Boca Juniors. Barrios has also made 17 appearances for the Colombian national team. The 25-year old featured in three of the four matches for Colombia in the World Cup in Russia. He made two starts for Colombia during the tournament, against Poland and England.
Barrios is Zenit’s third signing of the season. The club signed Yaroslav Rakitskiy and Sardar Azmoun earlier. Barrios will hope to have better playing time at Zenit. He will most likely make his debut for Zenit in their Europa League round of 32 match against Fenerbahce.