A headline member of the midfield ranks at German champions Bayer Leverkusen has on Tuesday spoken out on recent speculation linking him with a move to La Liga, with Barcelona.
The player in question? Exequiel Palacios.
The name of all-action midfielder Palacios has of course taken its place front and centre in the chatter in Catalunya’s capital over the course of recent days.
This comes after reports were forthcoming in the media, that incoming Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has identified the Argentine as a leading summer transfer target.
Palacios, for his part, is fresh off a stellar campaign in Germany, which saw him rack up six goals and five assists across 36 appearances, en route to a league and cup double.
Such exploits have given rise to claims that the aforementioned Flick considers the 25-year-old as the ideal profile to reinforce his midfield ranks for next season.
Speaking in an interview with Argentine outlet D Sports Radio on Tuesday, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of the Blaugrana’s alleged interest in his services was put to Palacios himself.
And though he went on to admit that as much is an ‘honour’, the World Cup winner was eager not to show any kind of ‘disrespect’ to Xabi Alonso’s history-making Bayer Leverkusen:
“Interest from Barcelona? It is an honour that a big club like Barcelona is interested in me, but talking about another club right now would be disrespectful to Leverkusen.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
