Barcelona are continuing to keep a close eye on the free agent transfer market ahead of next summer, according to Fabrizio Romano in his Daily Briefing, exclusively for CaughtOffside’s Substack.
The Catalan giants worked this market well last summer as they snapped up big names like Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen on free transfers, having also poached Memphis Depay on a free from Lyon the year before.
Romano has stated that Barcelona will adopt this strategy again, which means they are keeping tabs on the players nearing the ends of their contracts, though he said nothing is advanced for now.
The transfer news expert acknowledged links with Chelsea duo N’Golo Kante and Jorginho, as well as two other Premier League-based players in Ilkay Gundogan and Youri Tielemans.
“We know Barcelona want free agents again next summer as it’s a strategy that worked well for them last year, so we’re inevitably seeing a lot of names linked with the club,” Romano said.
“Barcelona have been linked with Ilkay Gundogan, Youri Tielemans, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and several other free agents… it’s normal, they keep close eye on top free agents and they will explore that market again.
“At the moment, though, nothing is advanced with any of these players; Gundogan has not decided yet on his future. Tielemans will not sign a new deal with Leicester for sure but he’s still waiting to decide the next step.”
It remains to be seen which of these players could be a priority, or indeed if they end up moving for any of them, but it’s easy to imagine they could do a job for Xavi’s side.
Kante and Jorginho have shown they can be important players for a top club, as has Gundogan at Man City, while Tielemans’ form for Leicester City suggests he’s ready to make the step up to someone like Barca.
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