Barcelona is busy preparing the selection for next season. According to the usually well-established Italian journalist Nicolò Schira, trainer Xavi mainly thinks about strengthening the defense. Both Matthijs de Ligt and Stefan de Vrij are reportedly back in the picture with Barcelona, which seem to want to choose between the central defenders of Juventus and Internazionale respectively.
According to Schira, Barcelona has already had contact with agent Mino Raiola in the recent period, who has De Ligt and De free in his stable. The Italian reporter thinks that De Vrij, with a contract until mid-2023 at Inter, should cost between 25 and 30 million euros. Bringing in De Ligt looks set to be a lot more difficult for Barcelona financially. A clause of no less than 120 million euros will come into effect with the Juventus stopper in June. It seems unlikely that the Catalans will want to deposit such an amount in the short term. Barcelona hopes that streaming service Spotify can quickly be roped in as the main sponsor, so that 280 million euros will be transferred over a period of three seasons. As a result, much more is possible in the transfer area, as is expected in Spain.
Juventus is according to Tuttosport working behind the scenes with a new contract until mid-2025 for De Ligt. The club from Turin would prefer to keep the defender, but nevertheless takes into account a premature farewell. In that context, Sven Botman (Lille OSC) has already been mentioned as a possible successor. Should De Ligt actually leave Juventus this summer, possibly for a lower transfer fee, this will provide some room in the salary budget for the 2022/23 season.
Barcelona has been associated with both De Ligt and De Vrij in the past, but a final agreement has never been reached so far. By the way, De Vrij does not look very good at Inter, as you know Tuttosport and La Gazzetta dello Sport to report on Tuesday. There appears to be dissatisfaction with his performance in recent weeks and Italian newspapers even think his starting spot is in jeopardy for Wednesday night’s Champions League game against Liverpool. In particular La Gazzetta dello Sport doubts the future of De Vrij at Inter, the employer of the Dutchman since 2018.
In addition to the the Dutch internationals, Franck Kessié is reportedly also seriously in the picture at Barcelona. The Catalans want to take advantage of the fact that the midfielder will run out of his contract with AC Milan in a few months. According to Schira, the negotiations are already at an advanced stage and Kessié can sign a very lucrative contract at the Camp Nou. The Ivory Coast international is currently competing with league-leader AC Milan for the league title in Serie A.
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