‘Will do what the boss tells them’ – Pair will sign for Barcelona, if that’s what they’re instructed to do

Parts of the Catalan sport media have this week become slightly obsessed with the idea of summer deals between Barcelona and Manchester City.

It’s the new cause for optimism and was needed. Months ago, when Joan Laporta was elected president at the Camp Nou, there was talk of big summer spending, with players like Erling Haaland and Neymar mentioned, despite the awful financial situation at Barcelona.

The collapse of the European Super League helped shine a new light on the Blaugrana’s finances and those big signing ideas were quickly forgotten. Then it all became about free agents and low cost deals, and having secured a few of those, Barca now have something of a stalemate.

They need to edge players out to bring players, and that saw Manchester City and Pep Guardiola dragged in. Claims of an unlikely Pep chat during a golf tournament, and him suggesting business between the two clubs, caught the imagination and it’s now reached its peak.

Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez are both linked today, and they follow on from Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo, with all kinds of claims being made, seemingly to convince the Catalan press things are plausible.

Wednesday’s edition of Sport takes a look at the situation, and how Guardiola and Jorge Mendes could come to Barcelona’s rescue this summer.

The Catalan newspaper spin out their thinking, and say: ‘Aguero and Eric Garcia have already arrived from City, they negotiate with Laporte, the defender that is needed, and they talk about Cancelo and Bernardo Silva. An operation, the latter, that could be saved if it goes hand in hand with a barter with Sergi Roberto and Dembele. Two good additions and two necessary exits. Guardiola agrees and Mendes takes the two Portuguese, who will do what the boss tells them. Mendes is a good friend of Laporta as he was with Bartomeu, to whom he did the favour of taking Semedo for forty million. Mendes can help, but he’s no fool.’

It’s all a bit of a tangled mess, and the big problem for Barcelona is that Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto simply aren’t worth anywhere close to what Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo are, so the issue of cash would return again.

Sport may be right about Silva and Cancelo doing what their agent tells them, yet that clearly does not build a transfer alone.