Barcelona already lining up De Jong replacement

14 Jul 2022 17:50 BST
3 min read

Bernardo Silva, Man City, 2021-22 — © ProShots

Barcelona have already set their sights on a replacement for the outgoing Frenkie De Jong, with Manchester City star Bernardo Silva being lined up as their priority target.

As previously mentioned by FootballTransfers, De Jong is close to an €85 million move to Manchester United and Barca boss Xavi wants another midfielder as a replacement, with Silva identified as the ideal option.

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Barcelona are slowly ramping up their transfer activity after activating an ‘economic lever’ which allowed them to finance the €65m signing of Raphinha as well as extend the contract of Ousmane Dembele.

The sale of De Jong would allow Barca to finally close a €50m deal for Robert Lewandowski but it remains to be seen whether they would also be able to afford Silva or if City would even consider offers for the 27-year-old.

While the Portuguese international is open to the idea of joining Barca, City are unlikely to be willing sellers, having already sold forwards Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, and the English side could demand up to €100m for Silva.

Are Barcelona likely to sign Silva?

Silva was previously keen to leave City last summer for personal reasons and Barcelona have always retained a strong interest in him, with Xavi said to be a huge admirer.

However, reports have claimed that Silva has not made any suggestion towards wanting to leave and is happy to stay at City despite allegedly dreaming of playing for Barcelona in the future.

🎙️| Helder Cristovao (former coach of Bernardo Silva): “Bernardo’s childhood dream is to play in Barcelona and wear the number 10 like Messi.” [@sport] #fcblive 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/bpSU054pI4
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) July 10, 2022

City too have insisted Silva is not for sale and any deal would be extremely difficult for Barcelona to close, although that has not put the Spanish side off in the past.

Barcelona have already met with Silva’s agent Jorge Mendes to discuss the prospect of his client joining the club and they believe they can finance a deal that would be paid off within three seasons.

While Silva is unlikely to force a move, the ex-Monaco man is said to be willing to wait until the end of the window to see if the two sides can come to an agreement.

De Jong, meanwhile, is still uncertain about joining United but he has been told by Barcelona that, while they don’t want to lose a player of his calibre, he needs to leave for ‘economic reasons’.