Barcelona to Tour USA and Mexico in Summer 2015

Barcelona officially announced a pre-season tour of the USA and Mexico to take place ahead of the next campaign on Monday, exciting fans who have had to wait for four years to see their heroes from up close.

The news was announced via Twitter:

The club released a short statement via their official website, telling fans to keep an eye out for official dates, which are yet to be released:

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FC Barcelona will go on a tour of the United States of America and Mexico in the summer four years after their last pre-season tour of the region. Despite dates not yet being confirmed, the Club has made official the news that the blaugranes will be returning to American soil for the fourth time in the last ten years.

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The Catalans are one of the biggest clubs in the world, and like other top teams, they like to use the pre-season to extend their global reach with a series of events for fans who live outside of Spain.

Massive tours in the Middle East and Asia have become a routine exercise for just about every top club in Europe, and last summer, Real Madrid and Manchester United set a new record for the highest attendance for a football match on American soil, drawing nearly 110,000 fans to Michigan Stadium, via Yahoo Sports' Brooks Peck.   

Fan interest in the sport and its biggest stars continues to increase in the USA, with even Real fans expressing their delight at the news:

Mexico is another tantalising market for European teams, and according to AS (h/t Barcastuff), a local opponent could even be on the schedule for the Blaugrana:

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During the summer tour in United States and Mexico this year, Barcelona could play against Man United, Chelsea, Juventus and Monterrey. [as]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) January 26, 2015"

For fans of the club, or even just of the sport, the news one of the biggest clubs in the world is crossing the Atlantic for the first time in four years has to be exciting.

American fans don't often get to watch the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in real life. In just a couple of months, that's all about to change.

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