Barcelona and 2 other clubs in race to sign 25-year-old midfielder: Reports

According to reports by Sport, Barcelona maintain an interest in signing Valencia captain Carlos Soler. While the Catalans have been widely linked with the Spanish midfielder, a move has failed to materialize.

Barca will now have to face incoming competition from Juventus and Atletico Madrid for the €50 million-rated Spaniard. While Valencia have always been open to doing business with their La Liga counterparts, delays from Camp Nou could see the player move elsewhere.

The top likely contenders against the Blaugrana in the race for Soler’s signature are Atletico Madrid, who are in better financial shape. Chances are, Los Rojiblancos will be able to put forward a much more attractive offer.

While Juventus remain interested in the midfielder, their interest is reportedly only towards securing a free transfer at the end of his contract in 2023. Barcelona will now have to make a move or risk losing a transfer target.

It remains to be seen if Barca will make a move for the player in the coming days and weeks, now that there is interest from other parties. Nevertheless, the fiscal realities at Camp Nou mean it is unlikely that they will flex any financial muscle in the deal.

With the future of dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong yet to be resolved, Barca may not yet have the means to put in a bid for Soler at the moment. Any deal will likely depend on the Catalans' ability to sell the Manchester United target for a decent fee.

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Bayern wanted to replace Barcelona target Lewandowski with Haaland: Pini Zahavi

Another player Barcelona are interested in is Robert Lewandowski, but there is currently a lot of uncertainty around the star's future.

His agent Pini Zahavi revealed that the Bavarians were looking to replace the Polish goal machine with Erling Haaland this summer. This was before the Norwegian announced his move to Manchester City.

Lewandowski refused to extend his stay in Bavaria and is reportedly looking to leave the club in search of new challenges.

Speaking to Bild (via Goal), Zahavi revealed that both he and his client knew about Bayern’s advances for Haaland. Lewandowski reportedly got wind of the club’s maneuvering via Haaland’s father, who told him about the Bavarian giants' approach in a private discussion.

With Lewandowski hoping to continue his career away from Die Roten, Chelsea and Barcelona have been heavily linked with moves for the striker (via Goal). However, Bayern seem to be playing hard ball and have refused to entertain any discussion about letting Lewandowski leave this summer.