The powers that be at La Liga giants Barcelona have at last come to a decision on their priority target to reinforce the club’s midfield ranks with a view to next season.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who point towards Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich as having been placed at the very top of the Blaugrana’s wishlist.
It is of course common knowledge that the brass in Catalunya’s capital are on the lookout for a headline name to man the base of Xavi’s engine room this summer.
With Oriol Romeu having fallen short of expectations, and Andreas Christensen considered only a stop-gap solution, Deco and his transfer team have long been on the lookout for the right profile of player.
To date, a whole host of pivot options have been tipped as potential arrivals in Barcelona, from Amadou Onana to Martín Zubimendi and Guido Rodríguez.
In fact, an agreement on the terms of a pre-contract with the latter is understood to be all but in place.
And though Guido’s arrival remains a strong possibility, he does not represent Barca’s chief target.
This honour, instead, belongs to the aforementioned Joshua Kimmich.
As per MD:
‘As our editorial team was able to confirm, Kimmich is the footballer that the technical staff likes the most because of what he can contribute at a technical, tactical, physical and experience level in high competition with his club and with his national team.’
It is also noted that Kimmich’s candidacy is only strengthened further by his relationship with Barcelona boss Xavi, who made contact with the German international on a number of occasions last summer.
Ahead of the expiration of his contract terms at Bayern Munich in 12 months’ time, a joining of forces between Kimmich and the Blaugrana with a view to the 2024/25 campaign is therefore considered a real possibility.
Conor Laird | GSFN
