Guido Rodriguez gaining ground to be Barca's new midfield signing
Barça's sporting management continues to work on the squad for next season. They have an agreement in principle to bring in Vitor Roque, the arrival of Iñigo Martínez has been finalised and they are awaiting a decision from Ilkay Gündogan this week.
The coach, Xavi Hernandez, however, insists that it is essential to reinforce the central midfield position after the departure of Sergio Busquets. The player from Badia del Vallès, who this week could decide where he will play next season, was a key player for Xavi and he wants a player as similar to him as possible. "He must be a 9 out of 10", the coach has repeated on more than one occasion.
His favourite has always been Martín Zubimendi, but the arrival of the Basque seems a utopian ideal. Firstly, because Real Sociedad do not want to negotiate and refer to the 60 million euro buy-out clause, a prohibitive amount for Barça. Secondly, because the player has always said that his wish is to play next season with Real in the Champions League.
Another name that, for Xavi, reaches the 9 out of 10 that he wants, is Joshua Kimmich, but Bayern have made it very clear that they do not intend to negotiate for one of their key players.
The list of possible replacements for Busquets is narrowing, as the club's favourite, Rúben Neves, is close to accepting an offer from Saudi Arabia once Barça found it difficult to sign him. There was an agreement with him and his agent, Jorge Mendes, but it came to nothing when the Portuguese agent was unable to bring Ansu Fati into the deal.
Guido Rodriguez
All eyes are now on Betis' Argentine midfielder Guido Rodriguez, who has always been high on Xavi's shopping list. The Argentinian, a world champion in Qatar, has a contract with the green and whites until June 30 2024 and has not yet renewed, so Betis should sell him this summer to make some cash. In Sevilla they do not rule out, however, that the player could renew but with an exit pact agreed.
Barça have not yet made any move in this regard because they are still awaiting some sales and the 'Fair Play' guidelines that they have to operate within, but other names could be involved in the operation. There are two players, Nico and Abde, who are of interest to Betis and who are well known to the Andalusian club's head of sport, Ramon Planes.
