Barcelona said to be keen on player, a year after he left Newcastle United

Mikel Merino has always enjoyed excellent publicity in the Spanish sport media, and links to some of the biggest clubs.

The 23 year old is fiercely ambitious and when he moved to Newcastle United in 2017 he was already thinking about his next step.

Getting the Premier League club to agree to an exit clause, he was able to leave for Real Sociedad last summer, with Newcastle receiving a relatively modest €12m.

Even when signing for the Basque club, Merino was already looking beyond that. He again agreed a relatively low clause of €45m, which meant that if he impressed and attracted bigger clubs then a move would be achievable.

Now Barcelona are interested, according to Sunday’s edition of Sport. The Catalan club are looking for someone who can give Sergio Busquets a rest when he needs one, and Merino is one of the options ‘most liked’ at the Camp Nou.

It’s claimed Barca tried to sign him before he left Osasuna for Borussia Dortmund, but weren’t able to get a deal done.

Since then they’ve followed his career, and the Newcastle United exit has enabled Merino to put himself on show in La Liga.

All part of the plan.