Barcelona drop out of race for €30 million-rated midfield enforcer – Romero

Signing a midfielder has turned out to be one of Barcelona’s priorities in the upcoming summer transfer window, especially after Sergio Busquets announced his desire to leave the club at the end of the month.

However, Barcelona’s list of targets is dwindling with each passing day. After Ruben Neves moved one step closer to moving to Saudi Arabia, it appears their other target Sofyan Amrabat is also set to move elsewhere.

According to Gerard Romero, Barcelona have ruled out the signing of Amrabat. The Fiorentina starlet has been chucked out Barça’s wishlist and the club will not pursue a deal for the midfielder this summer.

This came shortly after reports that claimed Amrabat is ready to move to Atletico Madrid, ahead of a switch to Catalonia. The player, whose market value stands at €30 million, wanted to join Barcelona earlier in the year, but with the club not in a position to register him immediately, it appears he had a change of heart.

With Amrabat and Neves not options anymore and Joshua Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi proving to be way too expensive, Barcelona must set their sights on other alternatives. The Catalans have been curiously linked with a move for Espanyol captain Sergi Darder lately.

However, the club could face stiff competition from Almeria in the race to sign Darder. As for other options in the market, Barcelona are in contention to sign Ilkay Gundogan. But the German could extend his contract at Etihad and is not a fully-fledged defensive midfielder.

One player who does interest Xavi is Guido Rodriguez. The Argentine international is rated highly by the Barcelona coach, but whether he ends up joining the Blaugrana would depend on several external factors, including how the club manage to get rid of unwanted stars this summer.

Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.