FC Barcelona has signed forward Karim Adeyemi of Munich, Germany according to the Associated Press on Thursday. The contract is long term, as it is five years through to the 2031 soccer season. The deal is worth 22 million pounds according to Adriana Garcia of ESPN.
Adeyemi has played 11 games internationally for Germany over the years and has one international goal. It came in a 6-0 Germany win over Armenia in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying. The goal closed the scoring on September 5, 2021 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, home of the Bundesliga’s VfB Stuttgart.
FC Barcelona will be the fourth professional team Adeyemi has played for. He was originally with Red Bull Salzburg in Austria for five years (2018 to 2022, where Adeyemi scored 27 goals in 68 games). While being property of Red Bull Salzburg, he was put on loan ro Austria’s Liefering, where he had 15 goals in 35 games. Then over the last five seasons from 2022 to 2026, Adeyemi has been playing in his home country of Germany, where he had 23 goals in 98 games for Borussia Dortmund in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Adeyemi is one of four players ever to score a hat trick for Borussia Dortmund in Champions League action. He accomplished the feat on October 1, 2024 in a convincing 7-1 Dortmund win over Celtic. The other three are Robert Lewandowski of Warsaw, Poland (in a 4-1 Borussia Dortmund win over Real Madrid on April 24, 2013), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon (in a 4-0 Borussia Dortmund win over Benfica on March 8, 2017) and Serhou Guirassy of Guinea (in a 3-1 Borussia Dortmund win over FC Barcelona on April 15, 2025).
Ironically, one reason why FC Barcelona signed Adeyemi is because they were looking for a player to replace Lewandowski. The Polish soccer legend who has six career Champions League hat tricks, including one for FC Barcelona in 2022, recently left FC Barcelona and came to terms with the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.
