Barcelona want to sign 2 free agents in the summer following La Liga president's statements - Reports

Spanish giants Barcelona are reportedly making plans to sign French midfielders N'Golo Kante and Adrien Rabiot on free transfers this summer.

This comes in the wake of the latest statement made by La Liga president Javier Tebas, who stated that Barca won't be able to sign players in the summer due to their financial condition.

The Blaugrana have been experiencing financial difficulties for a while now and were unable to make any additions to the squad during the January transfer window.

Elaborating on those issues, Tebas said:

"As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in its budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window," Tebas told the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.

"Barcelona has been involved in questionable behavior which has had an impact on La Liga and we are acting accordingly. We have ruled out that they can no longer sign more players."

He continued:

"They sold off €700m (£620m) in TV rights and tried to find different ways to solve the situation, but they won’t be able to do that next season. We have strict economic controls. At the end of each window, we tell all the clubs in La Liga what they can spend."

“They have to reduce their investment in players and we have encouraged them to sell players because, for every amount they raise in sales, they can spend 40% of that.”

According to reports, this has forced Barcelona to explore cheaper alternatives for the summer transfer window.

The Catalan giants are keen on adding the duo of Kante and Rabiot to their squad. Both players are expected to become free agents this summer should they fail to sign an extension with their respective clubs.

This could go a long way towards fixing their current financial distress, as Barca won't need to pay any transfer fees for the two superstars.

---

How have both N'Golo Kante and Adrien Rabiot fared this season amid interest from Barcelona?

The two French midfielders are reportedly attracting transfer interest from Xavi Hernandez's team this summer as they hope to strengthen their squad. They can both operate in a pivot alongside another deep-lying midfielder like Sergio Busquets.

Kante, 31, has barely featured for Chelsea this season. He only played a total of 175 minutes of football for the Blues this season before being ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

Rabiot, on the other hand, has been an important player for Italian giants Juventus this season. He has made 28 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals and providing two assists.