Barcelona haven’t given up on signing Manchester City‘s Joško Gvardiol, after looking at him in the summer window.
The Croatia international picked up an injury in January and was out of action until May. He regained fitness before the World Cup and made four appearances in the tournament.
Besides Barcelona, Real Madrid also considered signing the Manchester City star. There were constant reports linking him to Los Blancos, but a move never took shape.
That’s because the Premier League side took action in July and tied him down to a new contract until 2031.
Barcelona continue to chase Manchester City man
After last season, Sport Witness covered multiple reports from Spain explaining the La Liga winners’ interest in the defender. Hansi Flick’s side were working behind the scenes but weren’t successful in their efforts.
That doesn’t seem to have put them off as the Manchester City defender is on the front page of Mundo Deportivo’s print edition, with a caption ‘Gvardiol is the dream signing’.
Barcelona are in the market for a new centre-back and have identified a few targets. This includes the 24-year-old, Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni, Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez and Real Betis’ Natan. These three players are also on the front page.
Within the report, the newspaper explains Barcelona’s plan and how they can sign one of them.
Why Barcelona are planning for new centre-back
Earlier this month, the Catalan club lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and to Real Madrid in La Liga at the Camp Nou. Mundo claims these two defeats have highlighted Barcelona’s weakness in their defence.
The Blaugrana want to fix it in the winter market and have identified four targets. This includes Joško Gvardiol, who is their dream target. He can also operate as a left-back, which makes him more attractive.
Within the corridors of power at the Camp Nou, there’s total support for his signing. However, the operation won’t be easy because he recently signed an extension. Besides this, he’s a regular for Enzo Maresca, making 12 appearances so far this season.
This makes it almost impossible for Barcelona to snatch him away from the Etihad. The newspaper states the only realistic option for Flick’s side to sign him if the Citizens face severe sanctions for breaching Premier League’s financial rules.
Even if that were to happen, it’s not certain Manchester City will let him leave.
In short, the chances of Barcelona succeeding are very slim in January, which they are also well aware of. That may be the reason why Mundo didn’t bother discussing figures or a transfer formula.
