Barcelona have Everton star Amadou Onana on their list of options for the summer as director of football Deco looks to secure a new defensive midfielder.
That’s according to Sport, who say Onana is one of the options being looked at but the Catalans may struggle to come up with the funds required to get him out of Goodison Park.
The newspaper explains that Barcelona’s management are clear that they need to invest in a midfielder in the squad, a pivot specifically, and that will be their main investment in the summer.
They’ve given total priority to finding that player but are likely to be limited in what they can spend by economic and fair play issues.
They are estimating an investment of between €35m and €40m to reinforce the squad with an ‘already proven player’, with the latter figure seen as a hard upper limit.
They have several candidates on their list and Everton star Onana is one of the names that is ‘liked’ by those in charge.
He’s been impressing at Everton since last year, despite their struggles, and Barcelona have taken notice. Indeed a report at the end of December claimed they had initiated contact with the Toffees over a potential move.
That never happened in January and a deal in the summer is seen as difficult too, with Sport explaining that ‘it seems difficult’ for Barcelona to sign him if they can’t go above €50m.
While Onana is ‘listed on the market’, the belief is that Everton are very unlikely to accept a ‘low cost exit’ at any point, even despite their well-publicised need to bring in funds.
Whether there’s a work around remains to be seen but Onana is definitely on Barcelona’s list ahead of what may be a busy summer for him.
