Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde could bring Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Rúben Neves ‘closer’ to the Catalan club, according to Marca.
The duo are managed by Jorge Mendes, who is in talks with the La Liga side to extend the left-back’s contract. These discussions could be used to sound out the possibility of signing the Wolves player.
Both Balde and the midfielder have contracts expiring in 2024. The fullback’s renewal is well underway, and the parties are optimistic of finding an agreement for a new deal.
From the Camp Nou, they consider the negotiations for Balde could give them a ‘boost’ to sign the Portugal international. It has almost become ‘two for one’ for Barcelona.
Neves is one of the options on the table at the Spanish club to replace Sergio Busquets. The newspaper states the Barca leaders are ‘testing his signing’, but the final decision will be made by Xavi Hernández.
Xavi doesn’t want to rush to sign a replacement for Busquets. He also likes Real Sociedad midfielder Martín Zubimendi, who has a €60m release clause.
The Wolves star has already expressed his desire to join Barca and would have a ‘more affordable price’.
At the moment, it is not economically viable for Barcelona to carry out any deals in January.
Their leaders, however, don’t stop working and will make a move if there is possibility for them to undertake any operations in the winter market.
