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Since the club’s inception, Barcelona have been home to some of Brazil’s finest footballers. Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, and Neymar Jr are just some of the innumerable stars from the football-worshipping nation to have graced the garnet-and-blue colours.

Raphinha is the latest on the long list of Brazilian forwards in Catalonia. However, with Barcelona targetting Vitor Roque as their next big signing, there could be more Samba in the squad next season.

Earlier today, Raphinha spoke to SPORT about Barcelona’s latest transfer target and had nothing but praise for the Atletico Paranaense star’s quality on the field.

“With Vitor Roque, we’re talking about a high-quality footballer, who is showing in Brazil why Barcelona is interested in him and also the Brazilian team.”

In 13 Brasileiro Serie A appearances for his club this season, the 18-year-old has scored seven goals and provided two assists. Raphinha spoke highly of his potential and called the sky the limit for it.

“There is nothing fairer than talking about a great footballer like him, with great projection, a player who has a lot to give. I think he can go a long way in world football.”

Finally, the Blaugrana star highlighted how Roque’s arrival would impact not only the team but also his play on an individual level come next season.

“Roque would help Barça a lot, and also me, who plays on the wing.”

While Barcelona have an agreement in principle over a €45 million move to the club, his registration at the moment appears complicated unless the Catalans make a major player sale.

Joan Laporta recently confirmed that work was in progress with regard to Roque’s arrival and the coming weeks will be critical in that regard.

If the teenager arrives in time for the 2023-24 campaign, he would play as a backup option to Robert Lewandowski. However, his prominence will likely grow as the season progresses.

Talking about whether Roque would replace Lewandowski in the time right away, Raphinha said: “Robert still has a lot of football to give. He had a great season in his first year at Barça, he was the striker of La Liga and if he didn’t score more goals it was only due to lack of luck.”

On the impact Lewandowski has had in his first season at the club, Raphinha added: “What pleasantly surprised me about Lewandowski is to see, after everything he has achieved, his desire to win even more, to win more titles, and to always gives his maximum.”

In a major development, Gerard Romero is reporting that Franck Kessie is ready to leave FC Barcelona this summer after manager Xavi Hernandez called and spoke to the midfielder.

Kessie joined Barcelona only last summer, arriving as a free agent after his contract with AC Milan had run down. The 26-year-old did not have it easy in his first year at the club though as regular game-time was very hard to come by for him.

Given that Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, and Gavi were all ahead of him in the pecking order, the Ivory Coast international had to settle for rare starts and appearances off the bench.

It has led to a lot of speculations over his future, more so with Barça needing to make some quickfire sales. As such, Kessie has been heavily linked with an exit, but the midfielder, until now, has not appeared too keen to leave the club just a year after leaving.

However, that seems to have changed now, with Romero reporting that Kessie is now willing to consider an exit from Barcelona. It is suggested that manager Xavi called and spoke to the 26-year-old which may have played a part in convincing him.

Kessie is understood to have told that he is very grateful to the club and is now prepared to leave.

Barcelona are hoping to get at least €30 million from his sale this summer. And the former AC Milan ace is attracting some serious interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia, Al Ahli in particular.

Indeed, the Middle East outfit are willing to double his current salary should he make the switch although it might take a bigger offer for him to consider a move to Asia at this stage in his career.

Having allowed Samuel Umtiti to leave the club with a letter of freedom recently, Barcelona are set to terminate the contract of another of their players in the form of Alex Collado, reports Gerard Romero.

The 24-year-old La Masia graduate will be back at the club after having completed his loan spell at Elche. It was far from a memorable stint for Collado as he had to deal with injuries while he was not always a regular in the side.

As such, the Barcelona loanee finished the 2022/23 campaign with only 17 appearances in which he managed a goal and an assist.

Given that he has no place in Xavi Hernandez’s plans at Barça and the club’s need to lower their salary mass, the writing has been on the wall for a while now, as far as Collado’s future has been concerned.

However, finding suitors, especially those who would be willing to pay any transfer fee to secure his services, has not been easy so far.

There has been some interest from clubs in Spain and Greece, but no concrete movement has been made yet. Given the delays in player exits, Barça have had to hold back on their transfer plans thus far.

As such, the Catalans have decided to go ahead and terminate Collado’s contract and give up an opportunity to receive any transfer fee. His exit would help reduce the wage bill even though it would not be by a big margin.

The player could be on his way out of the club before the end of this week. He would depart having made only two senior appearances for Barcelona.

Barcelona midfielder Pablo Torre will certainly leave the club on loan this summer but is not going to make a decision about his new club in haste, reports Ferran Martinez of Mundo Deportivo.

Torre joined Barcelona last summer, arriving from Racing Santander in a deal worth €5 million. The Catalans beat arch-rivals Real Madrid to the youngster’s signing and manager Xavi wanted the young midfielder in the first-team dynamics right away.

However, minutes were very hard to come by for Torre given the competition in the middle of the park. As such, the 20-year-old played just 13 matches for the senior side across all competitions, scoring and assisting one goal apiece.

Barça do not wish for Torre’s development to stall due to the lack of minutes. And they have told the young midfielder that the best move for him is to join a La Liga club on loan so that he can accrue regular playing time and continue his progression.

Torre is understood to have accepted that he will be on the move temporarily but is not in a hurry to choose his next club as he wants to take his time and ensure that he makes the right choice.

As such, there is a possibility that Torre will even fly to the USA with the rest of the team for the pre-season tour and leaves Barça after returning from North America.

Villarreal are one of the clubs to have shown interest in Torre and could be a good place for the 20-year-old to develop, considering that they will be able to offer him European football as well.

Towards the end of the last season, there were a lot of murmurs about Jules Kounde and his continuity as it emerged that the defender had become upset about being used as a right-back when he promised that he would play at centre-back when he arrived.

The talk died down soon, with the defender himself and manager Xavi Hernandez playing down all talks of a departure. However, it was acknowledged that Kounde would be moved to his natural habitat at centre-back next season.

But, given the financial situation at hand, Barça are not certain about whether they can sign a new right-back in the transfer window, especially given their struggles in offloading players.

As such, journalist Sique Rodriguez is reporting that Xavi has convinced Kounde to continue playing as a makeshift right-back next season as well after holding several talks with the Frenchman.

Kounde joined Barcelona last summer from Sevilla in a deal worth €50 million. As iterated earlier, he was signed to reinforce the centre-back position.

But with Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen forming a great partnership and the lack of options at right-back led to Xavi stationing the Frenchman on the right side of the defence, where his performances exceeded expectations.

However, Kounde has always maintained that he wants to play at centre-back. But with Sergi Roberto and Julian Araujo the only other potential options at right-back, the Frenchman could once again be asked to do the job, especially with Araujo being linked with a departure.

It is now believed that Xavi has had multiple chats with Kounde about the same and it appears that they have worked as the 24-year-old is convinced about continuing at right-back next season should the need arise.

Much will depend on whether Barcelona do sign a new right-back or not this summer. They have been linked with the likes of Joao Cancelo and Ivan Fresneda. But if no move goes through, Kounde could again find himself filling in as a full-back.

According to a report from SPORT, Barcelona have set their sight on Arsenal youngster Miguel Azeez as a transfer target to reinforce the Barça Atletic roster for next season.

Rafa Marquez’s side will go through a soft rebuild as there are several players that have departed either with their contracts expiring or loan spells coming to an end while some are looking to make a headway into senior football.

As such, the midfield department at Barcelona’s subsidiary side has been weakened, which the club are hoping to reinforce with the signing of Azeez.

The 20-year-old starlet is a product of Arsenal’s youth academy and made his first and only senior appearance for the Gunners in December 2020, in the UEFA Europa League.

Azeez has spent time in Spain as he was on loan at UD Ibiza in the first half of the last season before returning to England to spend the second part of the campaign at Wigan Athletic.

Now back at Arsenal, Azeez, able to play in a multitude of positions in midfield, has a contract with the Gunners until the summer of 2024. But, Barcelona wish to sign him and are hoping to get his services for free by offering them a percentage of any future sale.

If he agrees to the move, Azeez would be following in the footsteps of Marcus McGuane, who also joined the Blaugrana subsidiary in 2017 from Arsenal’s youth team. He lasted at the club for a little over two years before returning to England.

And Barcelona would be hoping that things would not go down a similar road with Azeez as well should they indeed sign him to strengthen their reserve team.

Last month, Tottenham confirmed that Clement Lenglet will be returning to FC Barcelona after the expiry of his loan spell. But talks were understood to be continuing in the background over a possible permanent transfer.

In fact, some reports even suggested that the defender and the London club had reached an agreement in principle over his contract terms. But the talks of a transfer have gone quiet recently, casting doubts about whether Spurs do intend to sign him or not.

But the Premier League giants are waiting it out for Barcelona to possibly terminate his contract so that they can sign the defender on a free transfer this summer, reports AS.

The Spanish news publication claims Deco is currently working on two important files right now, as Barcelona look to reduce their salary mass. One of them is Lenglet, who is coming on the back of a relatively impressive loan spell at Spurs.

Tottenham were understood to be keen on a permanent transfer, but there was a difference in the valuation of the player between the two clubs.

And, the Lilywhites are now hoping that the Catalans will now terminate his contract, much like they did with Samuel Umtiti, which will enable them to sign the defender on a free transfer this summer.

The idea of Barça handing Lenglet a letter of freedom is not so far-fetched either. After returning to Camp Nou this summer, the defender is entitled to a figure of around €16 million next season in the form of wages.

That would greatly burden Barcelona, especially given the current economic situation. With that in mind, the Blaugrana might not rule out the possibility of terminating the contract of the former Sevilla centre-back, who has no future at the club.

The Catalans, though, could always wait around for other suitors. Lenglet, after all, has enjoyed a good season in the Premier League, which is bound to attract interest.

There is a possibility the club could lower their demands for the defender, so it will be interesting to see how things transpire in the coming weeks.

In their latest attempt to woo Arda Guler, Barcelona have come up with a fresh offer for the Fenerbahce youngster, who has become the focal point of the transfer market right now.

Real Madrid were initially touted as the frontrunner in the race to sign Guler. But Barcelona have recently disrupted the transfer saga by approaching Fenerbahce with their proposal to keep the player in Turkey next season.

According to Ajansspor, Barcelona have submitted a fresh offer for Arda Guler, in order to satisfy both parties. The club are willing to pay up to €20-25 million for the youngster, in two separate instalments.

As the Catalans are not paying the entirety of Guler’s €17.5 million asking price this summer, they are willing to send Guler back to Fenerbahce on a season-long loan deal.

Fenerbahce reportedly wanted to retain a 20% future sell-on fee as well, but it appears Barcelona are trying to eliminate that by offering a higher premium, albeit in two instalments.

In addition to paying a higher premium, Barcelona are also willing to meet Guler’s salary for next year, which should further appeal to Fenerbahce.

As for Guler himself, there were reports the Turkish whizkid was not too keen on prolonging his stay at Fenerbahce and wanted to make the jump to a bigger club this summer. In order to woo the youngster, Barcelona have offered Guler a 20-match guarantee when he joins the club.

It can be constituted as a smart move, as one of Guler’s absolute priorities was to secure regular game-time, even at a top club in Europe.

Barcelona, in light of their reliance on young players, are in a position to do so next season. So it will be interesting to see whether or not Blaugrana‘s latest offer will be enough to satisfy both Fenerbahce and Guler this summer.

With the summer transfer window officially open in Spain, Barcelona are looking to strengthen their squad to defend their La Liga title and challenge for European glory in the coming season.

However, before they can make signings, the Catalan giants have another very important issue to take care of – that of registering the new contracts of several players.

Indeed, at the time of writing on July 1, Barcelona have only 13 first-team players registered with La Liga as per the data on the league’s official website (h/t Mundo Deportivo).

This is because of the non-registration of the contract renewals of players like Inaki Pena, Ronald Araujo, Sergi Roberto, and Marcos Alonso.

All four players’ previous contracts were expiring on June 30, 2023, but have renewed their deals. But given the club’s Financial Fair Play situation, those new contracts have not yet been registered.

But Barça economic vice-president Eduard Romeu has assured that there will not be any problems with the club administration paying €6.67 million to La Liga as a guarantee for the economic viability plan.

At this time, the only registered first-team players are Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Gavi, Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele, and Raphinha.

Gavi’s registration was once again granted after the court overturned its decision to revoke the precautionary measure that had allowed for the 18-year-old’s new first-team contract to be registered.

Alejandro Balde is still on his subsidiary contract and thus does not feature on the list, although he is expected to sign a new deal soon which should also be registered without an issue following the guarantee payment.

As for new signing Ilkay Gundogan, he only signed from Manchester City recently and is yet to be registered as well.

The club will be hoping to take care of the registration of the aforementioned players at the earliest possible and then go after their targets in the market, although player sales are needed first for the club to be able to bring in new faces.

Barcelona manager Xavi sees his ongoing contract with the club expire in 2024. There had been talks about a renewal right after the 2022/23 season was over but nothing has been made official yet.

And recently, president Joan Laporta publicly admitted that the manager’s renewal was not a top priority for the club right now, with other matters taking precedence.

“When the time comes we will talk. First there are priorities and Xavi understands that. We’ll talk calmly, but we want him to continue and so does he. I’m convinced that he will go further. We haven’t set a date,” Laporta had pointed out in a TV interview a few days ago.

Building on the matter, Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo has reported that Xavi is quite calm about the situation and he understands that his renewal process will slow down mostly because there already are several recurring issues at the club.

Furthermore, the fact remains that his representatives have already met with the club in order to discuss the issue.

In all fairness, Xavi’s continuity is not going to be a problem in any way. The 43-year-old is more than willing to continue and even the board wants him to stay.

For that, the team is being prepared as per his scheme of things, which is the biggest indicator that he will remain at the helm.

Having taken over the reins of the club in November 2021, Xavi did a solid job of leading Barcelona to a second-place finish in La Liga that season.

Building on that, the legend guided the Catalan giants to the league title and the Spanish Super Cup triumph in the 2022/23 campaign, earning a renewal with his club.

While it might not be closed right away, there are no concerns about the issue and it will be taken care of once the other priorities are handled.