The 32-year-old Dutchman is the fourth new signing for the club, following Andwele Slory, Tim De Cler and Luigi Bruins.

Van Bronckhorst spent four seasons with the Spanish giants, where he has won the Champions League, two Primera Liga titles and a Spanish Supercup.

He joined Barca in the 2003/04 campaign from Arsenal having previously played at Scottish outfit Rangers.

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Van Bronckhorst joined the Ibrox outfit following a four-year stint with Feyenoord between 1994 and 1998, and he admitted to his delight at making a return to the club where he first rose to prominence.

He told www.feyenoord.nl: "It's good to be back.

"I always knew that I would make a return to Feyenoord and this seemed to be the right moment. I also wanted to return to Holland for my family."

The Holland international added that his return to De Kuip had been partly motivated by the promise of a midfield berth, and by his uncertain future at Barca following the Catalan club's failure to retain the Primera Liga crown last season.

"I have played fantastic games at Barcelona and won many prizes, but I had no idea how things would be next season," he added.

"At Feyenoord I am certain of playing at the midfield, my normal position.

"At Barcelona I played as left-back in the few last years. Last time I played for Holland was in midfield and that made me itch."

Van Bronckhorst's arrival in Rotterdam is just another stage in the rebuilding process of new coach Bert van Marwijk, who is looking to turn things around at the club in the wake of a season marred by poor league form and crowd violence in Europe.

Van Bronckhorst continued: "I still have the power to be of worth for Feyenoord. We need to start from scratch, that I know.

"The past season was terrible for Feyenoord, [but] I think that the club is doing their best to put a good team on the field for the new season."