What’s the story?
Barcelona want to overhaul their midfield in the summer with Marco Veratti, Bernardo Silva and Philippe Coutinho moving to the Camp Nou reports Everything Barca. All three players have been linked with a move to the Spanish giants recently, and will cost them around €185 million to prise them away from their respective clubs.
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Marco Veratti has been linked with a move to Barcelona in the recent past and rated around €80 million by Paris Saint-Germain. Marco had previously denied that he wants to leave Paris in the summer but has reportedly done a U-turn after PSG’s 6-1 loss in the Champions League.
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After the game, Veratti said “This is a game I will never forget. I hope it will serve as a lesson to everyone”. He has reportedly asked his agent to speak to suitors. The Italian has a contract with PSG till the year 2020.
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Philippe Coutinho has signed a new deal with Liverpool in January but has been heavily linked with a move to the Catalan giants in the past, some of it thanks to his bromance with Neymar. The Liverpool midfielder is rated around €60 million.
Bernardo Silva is the hottest property in Europe at the moment, the winger who can also play behind the striker has lit up the season with Monaco. Manchester United and Real Madrid are also reportedly interested in the €45 million-rated Portuguese.
The heart of the matter
Barcelona’s undoubtedly have an aging midfield with Andrés Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, and Sergio Busquets are probably all getting on with their careers. Andre Gomes, Denis Suarez, and Rafinha although talented, haven’t shown enough to prove that they can replace the trio.
Barcelona have struggled when their first choice team wasn’t available to them, as was evident against Deportivo in the La Liga last weekend, and adding depth and more quality to the ranks seems like the right way to go.
Parallels from history
Teams have overhauled their squad in the past, most recently Manchester United did when Louis van Gaal was appointed as they spend near €150 million to freshen up their ranks. They bought Angel di Maria, Falcao, Ander Herrera, Marcus Rojo, Luke Shaw and Daley Blind as they let go of Danny Welbeck, Wilfred Zaha, Shinji Kagawa, Bebe, Alex Buttner, Michael Keane, Angelo Henriqez and Patrice Evra.
Author’s Take
Although signing the three players make a lot of sense for Barcelona as it would add a lot of depth to the squad, it is unlikely an overhaul of such magnitude will happen with a new manager a the helm. He undoubtedly would like to assess his squad for at least half a season before swinging the axe.
Marco Veratti and Barnardo Silva though are interesting ones, as if the players move this summer it is unlikely that Barcelona will be able to get their signatures in the future.
