Xavi’s insistence has been key in Barcelona not giving up on the La Real midfielder<\/p>\n
Barcelona are preparing to make a big investment on a deep-lying midfielder as they prepare for life without Sergio Busquets, who is out of contract in the summer. <\/p>\n
Bar\u00e7a have been combing the market for months and have put several names on the table for coach Xavi Hernandez. There are a variety of profiles, from more physical players to players that are more experienced and some that are available for free in June.<\/p>\n
More than 10 players have been observed closely by the sporting department, but the Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi remains the top target. Xavi wants him and is convinced by his positional play, his touch and his age as the replacement for Busquets. <\/p>\n
There are no doubts inside the club but his \u20ac60 million price generates doubts about making a mistake. The investment could be risky but Xavi is not ceding. <\/p>\n
Bar\u00e7a have approached the player’s camp. Sporting director Jordi Cruyff has intensified contact with Zubimendi’s agent, who he has had a direct relationship with for years.<\/p>\n
I\u00f1aki Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez, Zudimendi’s agent, was also Cruyff’s when he was a player. He collaborated with Bar\u00e7a in other deals, too, such as the arrival of Aubameyang on a free last January.<\/p>\n
Bar\u00e7a saw Zubimendi’s recent renewal until 2027 as a good sign as his clause remains \u20ac60m. The big question is if Bar\u00e7a will be able to negotiate that down or at least agree to a payment schedule or maybe even a player in part exchange. <\/p>\n
What Bar\u00e7a don’t want is for relations to become hostile with Real Sociedad. They would want to reach a friendly agreement, be that in January or next summer, which would be more natural.<\/p>\n
It is clear there are other options if a Zubimendi deal proves impossible. A few months ago, it seemed more complicated, but there is some optimism now that a deal can be brokered. <\/p>\n
Xavi’s insistence is strong, so Bar\u00e7a will try. The priority is Zubimendi, but don’t rule anyone else out yet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Xavi’s insistence has been key in Barcelona not giving up on the La Real midfielder Barcelona are preparing to make a big investment on a deep-lying midfielder as they prepare for life without Sergio Busquets, who is out of contract in the summer. Bar\u00e7a have been combing the market for months and have put several […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barcelona-en.elgoal.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}