Sport are rather excited on behalf of Barcelona, as the club can start talks right away to sign four ‘cracks’ ahead of the summer. The players named are Leon Goretzka, Mesut Ozil, Ander Herrera and Daley Blind, and all have contracts ending in June.
Goretzka has, according to German claims, already agreed a deal to sign for Bayern Munich, and Ozil is routinely linked to Barcelona as he has been for years.
Herrera and Blind are in a curious situation. Both have contracts expiring in June, and Manchester United have a clause to extend both by a further season, but it hasn’t yet been made official what the club plan to do.
There’s been reports it’s happened, or happening, as expected, but no confirmation.
In December, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported Blind hadn’t yet been informed what his club planned to do. The longer there’s no confirmation of an extension, the more claims there’s likely to be about an exit.
Blind is valued for versatility and ‘great experience in European football’, and Sport say Jose Mourinho ‘doesn’t like him’.
As for Herrera, the Manchester United midfielder is again lavished with Catalan praise, with Sport saying the player ‘has taken a step forward and become one of the best in his position’.
In November, Mundo Deportivo talked up Barcelona interest in Herrera, saying: ‘He could be the ‘cover’ for the coming season. I mean Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera, a footballer who, saving all the distances, has always reminded me of Xavi Hernández.
‘It seems that this past summer he was already on the list of Valverde, who had him at Athletic. In addition to Valverde, Ander has had the best coaches, such as Bielsa, Van Gaal or Mourinho. At 28 years old (29 in the summer), he’s in a splendid moment of football maturity to make the jump to Barça.’
It sounds like the Ander Herrera Fan Club has a Barcelona branch.
