Mina eager to learn from Messi and Pique following €11.8m Barcelona move

Yerry Mina is eager to get to work with Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique at Barcelona and start collecting “many trophies”.

The Colombia international defender has completed an €11.8 million switch to Camp Nou from Brazilian side Palmeiras.

At 23 years of age, he is considered to be a hot prospect for the future and a player with the potential to play a leading role in Catalunya for many years to come.

Mina is aware that he still has plenty to learn as he opens a new chapter in his career, but believes he has the best possible mentors to help him fulfil his lofty ambitions.

Speaking to Barca’s official television channel upon his unveiling, the highly-rated centre-half said: “For me it’s a source of indescribable pride to be here because I have always dreamed about it and now the chance has come to be here with these great figures.”

He added that he hopes to “learn from these players. [Lionel] Messi, [Gerard] Pique, [Samuel] Umtiti, [Javier] Mascherano, everyone. I hope to take something from them and win trophies.”

Mina joins Philippe Coutinho in signing for Barcelona during the winter transfer window, with the club having broken their transfer record to complete a €160m deal with Liverpool.

The challenge for all of those at Camp Nou is to now kick on over the second half of the campaign, maintain their high standards and chase down major silverware.

Mina added on why he has signed up for that project: “Barca are a very solid and compact team. They have a lot of the ball and as we all know, they're the best team in the world.

“I hope to learn, play a lot and win many trophies, which is the most important thing.”