Barcelona transfer news roundup: Barca look to sign Manchester City defender duo in a swap deal, Club identifies Setien replacement and more: 23 July 2020

Lionel Messi has called for big changes at Barcelona

Barcelona are looking at a transfer window that could change a lot of things at the club. Even Lionel Messi joined in to demand some changes to be made at the Camp Nou after the club's dip in form cost them the La Liga title.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the top transfer news and rumours involving Barcelona on 23 July 2020.

Barcelona interested in signing Villarreal's Pau Torres

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Villarreal centre-back and Spanish international Pau Torres. The 23-year-old has been a fixture in Villarreal's backline after breaking onto the scene last season in a loan spell with second-tier Malaga.

Pau Torres started 35 times for Villarreal this season and is currently under contract with the club till 2023. However, he has a €50 million release clause and it remains to be seen whether Barcelona will activate it or look to negotiate for a deal for a lesser amount.

Laurent Blanc on standby as next Barcelona manager

Laurent Blanc's name is being echoed in the halls of the Camp Nou as Barcelona's attempts at replacing Quique Setien gathers pace. The former defender has been out of job since he left Paris Saint-Germain in 2016.

Setien is reportedly set to continue till the end of the season but no guarantees have been made with regard to his future at the club. Blanc has won the Ligue 1 four times as a manager, once with Bordeaux and thrice with Paris Saint-Germain.

He has 15 titles to his name as a manager and has also been the recipient of Ligue 1 Manager of the Year award on 3 occasions.

Barcelona looking to sign Joao Cancelo and Eric Garcia from Manchester City

Joao Cancelo might not be at City beyond the season break

Barcelona are looking for defensive reinforcements and are reportedly in the hunt for the Manchester City defender duo of Joao Cancelo and Eric Garcia. The Cules want to bring their academy product Eric Garcia back to the club.

They are also trying to engineer a swap deal for the former Juventus right-back, Joao Cancelo, by sending Nelson Semedo the other way.

The report claims that Manchester City are pushing for the Cancelo-Semedo straight swap and are willing to agree on a deal for Eric Garcia should the swap deal work out.

About the author

Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.

For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.

Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.

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Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala