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Barcelona had set their eyes on Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi over two years ago, when Xavi initially joined the club as the permanent coach.
The coaching staff and the directors, both, have been hugely impressed by the Spaniard and consider him as the perfect player to take over Sergio Busquets’s throne, who left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 2023 after nearly a decade and a half at the Camp Nou.
However, while Barcelona have almost publicly made it clear he is their first-choice option in that position, they do not have even close to the budget required to complete his signing, priced at €60 million – his release clause.
And if things were not difficult enough already for the Catalans, they will not face competition from Bayern Munich in their pursuit of the La Real midfielder, as per a report relayed by BILD.
The Kimmich situation
While it can be argued that Bayern already have one of the best defensive midfielders in the world in Joshua Kimmich, their coach Thomas Tuchel would stand to disagree.
The UCL winning manager does not consider Kimmich as a natural no. 6, and has demanded a signing of one as soon as possible to cover the midfield.
The German midfielder, on the other hand, believes he is a pivot, and is also quite unhappy at Allianz Arena. This has led to rumours linking him to Barcelona.
His contract expires in the summer of 2025, and Bayern could open the door to his exit if the Zubimendi signing goes through. Not that signing will be cheap, but he could be available on a slashed price.
Barcelona’s current pivot situation
Xavi has already experimented with three different players in the lone pivot position, starting with Oriol Romeu, who had a stint of solid performances after signing for the club.
However, his form took a massive hit once Frenkie de Jong picked up an injury, leaving him exposed at the base of the midfield.
This is when Xavi opted to use Ilkay Gundogan in that role, which has been largely…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/bayern-munich-interested-in-signing-barcelonas-first-choice-pivot-target-in-the-summer/
Author : Udhav Arora
Publish date : 2023-11-21 18:04:21
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