Barcelona could use Abde or Dest in swap deal for Premier League midfielder

Earlier in the month, it was revealed that Wolverhampton Wanderers had submitted a proposal for Barcelona star Ansu Fati worth €30 million, along with Ruben Neves.

The offer was quite appealing to Joan Laporta, who has subsequently made moves to sign the Portuguese international in the coming summer, despite the objection of Xavi Hernandez.

The Barcelona coach and some of his coaching staff are not on board with the plan to sign Neves. They do not fully trust the Premier League star, with Xavi unsure of the player’s defensive prowess.

Nevertheless, a recent report from Diario SPORT suggests Laporta has had a meeting with Xavi recently, explaining him the potential benefits of the Neves operation, especially from an economic perspective. Xavi has subsequently approved the plans, even though he is still preferring a move for Martin Zubimendi.

The report further suggests that Barcelona could sign Neves on zero-sum, and will finance the deal through the exchange of players.

As mentioned earlier, Fati was a real option for Wolves. But with the Barça attacker reluctant to leave Camp Nou this summer, Jorge Mendes is likely to come up with other alternatives.

Abde Ezzalzouli, Nico and Sergino Dest are among the players that could be involved in the operation.

Barcelona will respect the deal as long as it is financially advantageous to the club. In this case, the club would be able to offload some of their unwanted stars, while signing a midfielder at the same time.

The report claims the operation to sign Neves is currently in the final stages. However, Barcelona are awaiting final confirmation from La Liga over the FFP regulations that will determine the club’s powers in the market.

Barcelona are also likely to sign another midfielder this summer, with Ilkay Gundogan likely to be the desired candidate.