Koeman requests midfield signing, Barcelona eye €30 million-rated Portuguese international

With the new season less than a month away, Barcelona are still looking to bring in three more players to add to their four new summer signings, reports SPORT.

Manager Ronald Koeman is eyeing a new left-sided central defender or a left-back, another striker and a midfielder. And, the search for the latter position has taken them for LOSC Lille, with Renato Sanches emerging as a target, according to AS.

Sanches, a product of the SL Benfica youth academy, burst to fame in 2016 – winning the Golden Boy award, following which he signed for Bayern Munich. However, it turned out to be an ill-fated move as the 23-year-old struggled to make the kind of impact expected. After three years, the midfielder moved to Lille in 2019, where has been able to build his career back up.

Indeed, Sanches has grown into a key player for Les Dogues over the past couple of years and was an integral member of the team that lifted the Ligue 1 title last season. The midfielder backed it up with a few eye-catching performances for Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2020.

Barcelona’s hunt for a new central midfielder is not a top-secret. The Blaugrana pursued the signing of Georginio Wijnaldum ardently for a long time, only to see the Dutchman snub them in favour of a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, leaving Koeman & co. frustrated.

A move for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez was mooted recently, with a swap deal involving Antoine Griezmann being considered. However, the chances of that happening are diminishing rapidly.

With Miralem Pjanic’s future certain to be away from Camp Nou, there is a necessity of a new midfielder at Barca, and Sanches could be the man that ends up arriving this summer. Super-agent Jorge Mendes could help facilitate a move from Lille, with the report stating that a loan move with an obligation to purchase next year could be an option.

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