Reports: Barcelona identify 2 Premier League superstars as alternatives to Verratti and Dembele

What’s the story?

Barcelona have reportedly been in pursuit of Marco Veratti for quite a while now, but they are also preparing for the worst as is the case with the protracted negotiations for Ousmane Dembele.

English dailies such as the Sun and the Metro have picked up on a Sport story that reports that the Catalan club have identified Manchester United’s Ander Herrera and Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez as potential alternatives in case the deal for the Italian falls through. The Spanish daily goes on to state that Barcelona would need to shell out upwards of £40 million for Herrera and it’s likely that they’ll need to spend an equal amount of money for the 2015-16 PFA Player of the Year.

In case you didn't know

Ander Herrera worked with Ernesto Valverde during the coach’s first year of his second stint as head coach of Athletic Bilbao (2013-14) – that was the season before which Manchester United finally managed to pry the Basque away from his hometown club for £29 million. He is therefore extremely comfortable with the combative midfielder and would love to have him on his side once again.

As for Mahrez, despite his rather poor showing last season (as with almost all of his teammates), his stock hasn’t fallen too hard because of just how good he was in 2015-16. Creative, fast and possessed of a lethal left foot, the Algerian is still a goal-scoring force to reckon with as he showed in the UEFA Champions League this time around.

Stats for the season:

Herrera – 2 goals, 7 assists

Mahrez – 12 goals, 5 assists

The heart of the matter

With Barcelona’s high-powered bids for Marco Verratti and Ousmane Dembele hitting snags (neither PSG nor Borussia Dortmund are showing any willingness to sell their star players) Ernesto Valverde is working with his team to make sure they have a plan B and it’s this that has them at the doorsteps of Manchester United and Leicester City.

Barcelona need urgent strengthening of their squad and these two would go a long way in addressing this issue.

Video

One for Herrera, who has become increasingly vital for Manchester United:

and one for Mahrez, the best bits of that miraculous season:

Not too shabby for a reported £80 million worth of players

Author’s Take

While Riyad Mahrez would certainly be interested in moving to Barcelona, it’s highly unlikely that Herrera’s move would meet either Mourinho’s or the United hierarchy’s sanction considering how vital a cog he is in the Portuguese’s grand scheme of things. It might be wise of Valverde and co. to have a plan C ready, just in case.