Barcelona dealt double blow in midfielder search

Tom Weber

• Updated: 13 Jan 2024 17:17 GMT
• 3 min read

The chances of Barcelona signing the midfielder Xavi has desired all season appear increasingly slim.

The Catalans are still looking for an adequate long-term successor for club legend Sergio Busquets, who followed Lionel Messi to Inter Miami in the summer. Stopgap solution Oriol Romeu could be offloaded after just six months, but there are major question marks over who Barcelona could sign to replace him.

Furthermore, with Gavi out of the season and Pedri's body seemingly ruined, there is a real need for the Blaugrana to bring in numbers for the centre of the park. Yet, their financial situation does not permit them to do so, especially after acquiring Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque to bolster the attack.

The lack of financial wiggle room has now seen Barcelona hit with a devastating but ultimately unsurprising double blow when it comes to rumoured targets Joshua Kimmich and Mats Wieffer.

Stars slipping from their grasp

According to Spanish media, Barcelona have officially ended their pursuit of Bayern star Joshua Kimmich because he is simply too expensive. This, however, is not really news as it has been rumoured for several weeks that their interest in the German was growing increasingly cold due to the infeasibility of acquiring him.

Additionally, Sport is now claiming that Atletico Madrid have leapfrogged the Blaugrana in the chase to sign Mats Wieffer. The Feyenoord star is seen as the ideal complimentary midfielder to his compatriot Frenkie de Jong, but a move to Catalunya is looking increasingly unlikely.

The report asserts that Atleti have initiated first contacts with the Dutch giants regarding the availability of Wieffer. It is claimed that he could be had for €25 to €30 million, which makes him affordable compared to positional peers such as Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi, but it is still too expensive for Barcelona.