Barcelona reactivate plans to sign Spanish forward, situation depends on PSG

The surprise contract renewal of Samuel Umtiti on lowered terms has allowed Barcelona to successfully register January signing Ferran Torres.

Umtiti’s downward renewal, coupled with Philippe Coutinho’s loan departure has cleared up some room on the wage bill at Camp Nou. With there being plans to work out a contract agreement with Sergio Roberto similar to the Umtiti deal and exits of players like Yusuf Demir on the cards, the club should have more leeway to bring in and register new stars.

This has seen Barça reactivate their plans to sign Alvaro Morata before the ongoing transfer window slams shut, reports El Nacional.

Xavi Hernandez is keen on bringing in another centre-forward in January having had to deal with the retirement of Sergio Aguero, while the uncertainty surrounding Luuk de Jong’s situation continues.

The Dutchman has scored two in two games in 2022 and the manager values the 31-year-old’s contributions. However, as per the report, he would rather have a more mobile forward like Morata at his disposal than the Sevilla loanee, who could be moved on to further free up space on the payroll.

Talks to sign Morata have been ongoing for a while now, but things had hit a standstill due to Juventus’ inability to bring in a replacement.

The Spaniard’s parent club, Atletico Madrid, are keen on seeing the 29-year-old move to Camp Nou, as it would potentially help them sign Antoine Griezmann at a lower fee than agreed previously.

But Juventus are unwilling to let him leave until they can sign their preferred replacement, who happens to be PSG’s Mauro Icardi. The Argentine striker is keen on returning to Italy and has requested Les Parisiens to sanction a move.

In case PSG allow him to sign for Juventus, Barça’s operation to sign Morata could pick up speed. However, with a lot of moving pieces involved, the transfer could be a complicated one to pull off.