Barça looking for 'low cost' defensive midfielder to double up the position
The Catalan club want better cover at the base of the midfield but money's a problem
The transfer window has closed, but FC Barcelona have not stopped the process of putting together the squad for the future.
One of the positions they are interested in reinforcing is defensive midfield to double up the position where, at the moment, there is only Oriol Romeu as a first-team player; although Marc Casadó, captain of Barça Atlètic, is coming on strongly behind him.
Two of the options are currently without a team and could arrive as free agents in the winter transfer window. They are Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Joshua Guilavogui.
The former, 27, has been trained in the youth ranks of the French national team, although he is a member of the Ivory Coast senior squad. He spent three seasons at Mainz, four at Everton and the last one on loan at Trabzonspor.
As for Guilavogui, he is an old acquaintance of LaLiga. He spent the first part of the 2013/14 season at Atletico Madrid, who won the domestic title on the final day of the season. Since then, he made his career at Wolfsburg with a loan spell at Bordeaux.
On the other side of the table, the sporting commission is also monitoring two emerging young talents of Portuguese origin. Both are Deco's bets and, due to contractual conditions, their arrivals are not foreseen for this winter transfer window.
We are talking about Joao Neves and Dário Essugo. The former, who is about to turn 19 and has a contract until 2028, has been trained in Benfica's youth ranks and made his debut with the first team last season.
The latter is a Sporting Club player and is a year younger than Neves, although his contract ties him to the Portuguese club until 2025.
