It was the last days of the transfer window, back in summer 2014. FC Barcelona were in the middle of the storm, as Sandro Rosell had to resign as the president of FC Barcelona. During this summer, the interim president, Bartomeu, knew that the club is approaching the elections. Therefore, it was important to build something special. And indeed, Barcelona had one of the best summers ever, bringing players like Rakitic, Ter Stegen and Luis Suarez. However, one unknown player to arrive this summer was Douglas Pereira. Barca paid €4 million fee plus €1.5 million in add-ons for the defender.
Douglas Pereira dos Santos was 24 years old at that time, and it was quite a surprise for FC Barcelona to go for him. Although the right back played regularly for Sao Paolo, no one considered him as one of the ‘uprising stars’ in Brazil. Moreover, he never played for the senior national team. Years after, we would realize that it was just one operation out of many shady deals in Brazil that were mentioned here.
In 2014, Douglas Pereira signed his contract with FC Barcelona for the next 5 years. And in his 5 years at the club, Douglas played only 8 matches for Barca. Moreover, he spent most of his time out on loan spells.
During his time at Barcelona, Douglas Pereira had a tough time and he couldn’t even mention 1 good game that he played. Moreover, he suffered from different injuries, and that didn’t help. Years after, Douglas admitted that his time at FC Barcelona turned from a dream to a nightmare very fast: “In Barcelona I had some tough times with injuries. I’d come home crying every day.”
Loan Spells until eventually leaving the club
In summer of 2016, after 2 unsuccessful seasons at the club (Buy hey, he won the Treble) – Douglas left on loan. The team that got the Brazilian were Sporting Gijon, but it wasn’t easy. According to Sport, he initially refused to sign the papers confirming his loan to Sporting Gijon, and instead staged a sit-down protest in the club’s offices, refusing to leave. But eventually, the club convinced him into confirming the transfer. During this season, Douglas Pereira played 23 games for the side from Asturia, that eventually relegated from top flight in the same season.
On 30 August 2017, Douglas joined Portuguese champions Benfica on a season-long loan deal. In Portugal, Douglas played only 882 minutes in 11 games.
In summer 2018, Douglas signed a loan deal for the last year of his contract, this time with Sivasspor from Turkey. This was probably the best season of his European career, with 10 G/A in his 32 appearances for the club.
After Barcelona
After his good loan spell in the Turkish league, Douglas decided to stay in Turkey, signing for Besiktas in the summer of 2019.
However, his time at Besiktas was even worse. He only participated in 5 league games, and 2 Europa league matches. He suffered 2 major injuried: Torn Ankle Ligament and Thigh muscle rupture. Both injuried made him lost most of the 2019/20 season.
In the last 2 years, he still had a contract with Besiktas, but he never played football again.
In the summer of 2022, Douglas officially ended his contract with Besiktas, and returned to Brazil.
At the age of 32, Douglas Pereira is yet to officially retire from football. However, several reports in Turkey suggest that he is already working on his next job, and it’s a surprising one. The Brazilian will enter the construction sector and will become a contractor. Hopefully, he will be more successful as a contractor than he was a footballer.
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