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Barcelona play Leganes in a La Liga clash on Sunday night, and the Catalans will hope to extend their lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid back to five points.
Here is all the Barcelona news and rumours of today:
#1 Valverde speaks about Vela and de Jong
Barcelona is keen to add some players in the January transfer window, especially in central midfield, as well as a striker. Two players that they have been linked with is former Arsenal and Real Sociedad striker Carlos Vela, while the other is highly rated midfielder, Frenkie de Jong.
Speaking about de Jong in his press conference ahead of the Leganes match, manager Ernesto Valverde had this to say: "I insist on the same answers – he's a great player who is on another team. If I start talking about what's going on in the press, it's not going to go away. I'm not going to comment on this. All the respect to De Jong and Ajax."
Valverde was also asked about another player the club has been linked with, Carlos Vela, but the manager did not reveal any details about a possible transfer, evading the question: "He's a great player. He's played in our league but we don't normally talk about players from other clubs. A lot is said about every name that comes up. I can understand, being Mexican (the reporter who asked the question was Mexican, why you are interested but he plays for another club."
Spanish media reports suggest that a deal to sign Vela could be finalised soon and the 29-year-old could return to La Liga by the end of the January transfer window.
#2 Barca to make a final bid for midfielder
Barcelona has pursued Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong for quite a while now, and while reports suggested that a deal was all but done, French club Paris Saint-Germain swooped in and appear to be frontrunners in the signature of the world-class midfielder.
Marca has now reported that Barcelona's management team, which includes Josep Maria Bartomeu, Pep Segura, Eric Abidal and Ramon Planes have gone to Amsterdam to speak to Ajax to resume talks to sign the player and land one final bid.
The Catalans were also linked with de Jong's teammate, Matthijs de Ligt, but even he seems to have not picked Barcelona as his next destination.
#3 Arsenal rival Spurs to sign Malcom
Malcom has had a terrible season so far, and is all set to move from the club, despite his manager giving him the benefit of doubt and rejecting claims of him moving away from the club.
"Of course he (Malcom) wants to play games and score goals and that is what I want from him, He is a player who has a place here at the club. He's a part of the squad like any other player. He's got certain qualities that we want to see on the pitch. He is a great player, we want to see him be a decisive player," said Valverde about Malcom in his press conference ahead of the Leganes game.
English club Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a move for Malcom, to replace the injured Harry Kane, and Son, who is representing South Korea in the Asian Games. It has now emerged that Spurs' North London rivals, Arsenal, have also joined in the race to sign the Brazilian, as per Mundo Deportivo.
Arsenal wants to bring him on loan to the Emirates, but Barcelona wants to only sell him on a transfer and not loan him out, in the January transfer window.
#4 Denis Suarez update
It seems that Arsenal may finally land Barcelona midfielder Denis Suarez, on loan, with a possible transfer in the summer.
Speaking after his side's 2-0 win against Chelsea, Arsenal manager Unai Emery dropped a huge hint that the Gunners will secure the transfer of Suarez soon.
Suarez has not been included in Barcelona's squad to face Leganes, which was the question posed to Emery. Emery replied with a response that will please Arsenal fans: "The club is working with many situations to help us. I cannot speak about individual players but I know the club is working with different possibilities if they can help us for these next four months," said Emery.
He further went on to state that the January transfer window is a difficult window to get in players but the Arsenal board are doing all it takes to bring a player in.
Meanwhile, Suarez dropped a few hints that he may be on the way to Arsenal, as he liked a few posts on Instagram following Arsenal's win over Chelsea.
#5 Chelsea and Manchester United battle it out for Coutinho signature
The rumours of Phillipe Coutinho leaving Barcelona to Manchester United haven't died down, and now Mirror is reporting that Chelsea has now entered the race to sign the Brazilian for around £100 million.
Coutinho was also linked with a return back to Liverpool, but Reds manager Jurgen Klopp dismissed talk about a return to Anfield for the Brazilian.
“That is something I don’t want to talk about. I would not say it is a potential transfer or a likely one. Nothing to say. Whatever I say would open more stories and there is no story. Phil is at Barcelona and as I know he fits really well and everything is fine,” said Klopp, this past week.
Coutinho moved to Barcelona in the 2018 January transfer window for a sum of £142 million after spending five years at Anfield.
