DailyTransfer

Mercato Barça: Xavi has chosen his future defensive midfielder

04/05/23 17:16 by Fabien Borne

While Jorge Mendes is trying to place Ruben Neves at Barça, Xavi Hernandez is not interested in the Portuguese midfielder from Wolverhampton and favors the profile of Sofyan Amrabat according to several sources.

Having to sell players and reduce its wage bill, while recruiting to remain competitive, Barça will have to be smart in the summer mercato. One of the priorities of the Catalan club in the direction of arrivals is to recruit a defensive midfielder, even though Sergio Busquets would agree to extend his contract by one year, which seems to be going well.

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According to the Spanish media Relevo, Jorge Mendes took advantage of his presence in Barcelona this week to offer Barça an exchange between Ansu Fati and Ruben Neves (plus money for Barça), two players he represents. But the Portuguese midfielder from Wolverhampton does not interest Xavi Hernandez, nor the sports management of the Catalan club, according to Relevo, which does not rule out the possibility that Mendes will eventually convince Joan Laporta of the economic interest of the operation, even if the case is complicated because Ansu Fati refuses to leave at the moment.

Xavi does not want Ruben Neves, Amrabat hoped for

According to AS, Xavi does not want Ruben Neves and therefore his arrival seems unlikely. AS and Relevo also agree that the Moroccan international Sofyan Amrabat (26) is the preferred option for Xavi and the Barça sports management to strengthen the sentinel position. The Fiorentina player, who had a great World Cup with Morocco, had already come close to joining Barça this winter, but the Viola had opposed his departure.

While Amrabat has only one year left on his contract, his transfer could be completed this summer for 25 to 30 million euros according to Relevo. It remains to be seen whether Barca will have the capacity to put this amount on the table. Real Sociedad defensive midfielder Martin Zubimendi is expected to extend his contract or join Arsenal, according to AS, and is therefore no longer an option for Barcelona. AS, however, mentions another option in case of failure in the Amrabat dossier, that of the Argentine defensive midfielder Guido Rodriguez, from Betis.

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