U-turn in Pjanic's situation at Barcelona with an exit now possible again

One player who be a late addition to the list of departures from Barcelona this summer is Miralem Pjanic. The midfielder appeared to have earned his place in the first team. During preseason he convinced Xavi Hernandez of his worth and an exit was put on ice, but he has still not featured this season in a competitive game.

Per 'Cadena COPE', Al-Nassr have now reactivated their interest in signing Pjanic. The Saudi Arabian side are coached by Rudi Garcia, who worked with Pjanic when he was a Roma player. A point worth noting is that the transfer market remains open in said country until Sept. 17.

Lyon have also sounded out a return for Pjanic, who played for the French club between 2007 and 2012.

His salary could hinder an exit, although last season he was happy to join Turkish side Besiktas with a 50% reduction to his pay packet.

It should be remembered that in one of the last press conferences offered by Xavi, he confirmed that he would stay with the team: "Pjanic has convinced me and he is staying with us," he said. The need to create space on the wage bill has changed things.

The loss of Pjanic would coincide with that of Nico, who left on loan to Valencia in search of more minutes seeing that the club had decided to bet on Pjanic as a hypothetical replacement for Busquets; as well as the one from Collado to Elche.

If Pjanic's departure is confirmed, Barça would only have five midfielders with a first-team registration: Busquets, Pedri, Sergi Roberto, De Jong and Kessie; in addition to Gavi and Pablo Torre who are not currently registered with the first team.