Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele is closing in on a move to French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
90min understands that he has agreed personal terms over a move back to his homeland and could even be unveiled as a new PSG player by the end of the week.
It will bring an end to Dembele’s six-year stint in Catalonia – a spell which has been largely underwhelming considering the promise he arrived with and the €145m (£125m) total fee paid to Borussia Dortmund.
PSG will fork over €50m (£43m) for Dembele. Here are the players Barcelona could, and perhaps should, recruit with that sum.
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Head coach Xavi admitted earlier this week that he is in desperate need of a new natural right-back.
“The right-back is a position that we should look at again, and reinforce,” he said. “We have players who adapt but they are not in their natural positions. We will see how everything turns out and how we also fit into financial fair play.”
Few modern day full-backs fit the Barcelona mould the way that Joao Cancelo does.
90min reported on Wednesday that Barca are reigniting their interest in the Portugal international having tried but failed to sign him during the January transfer window.
Barcelona would prefer to take Cancelo, who has four years left to run on his Manchester City contract, on an initial loan with an option to buy. Classic Barca trying to kick the can down the road.
Right, let’s move on to actual winger targets and not just any old player that Barcelona are actively talking about.
90min reported last month that Man City were battling PSG and RB Leipzig for Lyon winger Bradley Barcola, seeing him as a potential replacement for Riyad Mahrez.
Barcola ended his breakout 2022/23 season with seven goals and ten assists in 35 games for Lyon. If Barcelona want one of Europe’s up-and-coming wide threats, then they should consider entering these sweepstakes.
Villarreal winger Yeremy Pino is quickly announcing himself as one of Spanish football’s top prospects.
He has spent three full seasons in the Yellow Submarine’s first team and was part of their Europa League-winning contingent of 2021, while he played a starring role in Spain’s Nations League triumph in June.
Pino’s €80m (£69m) release clause may prove prohibitive to Barcelona unless they shift a few more players, such as Tottenham targets Franck Kessie and Clement Lenglet.
This would be a highly ambitious move and one that would stretch Barcelona in a financial sense, but Joao Felix is a player that would love to make the move and would certainly raise the technical levels of La Blaugrana.
In fact, Felix recently discussed his desire to play for Barcelona in an interview with Fabrizio Romano, saying: “I’d love to play for Barca. Barcelona has always been my first choice and I’d love to join Barca. It was always my dream since I was a kid. If it happens, it will be a dream come true for me.”
The endless link. Bernardo Silva has continually been tipped to leave Man City and it is usually Barcelona touted as the destination.
Barca are still interested, but due to the aforementioned sale of Mahrez, 90min understands that Siva will be staying put at the Etihad Stadium.
A versatile Ajax forward who has World Cup experience but has only been linked with a move to the Premier League? This sounds like something Barcelona should be all over.
Mohammed Kudus has been the rare shining light for both club and country over the last year, turning on the style in poor Ajax and Ghana teams.
90min understands he is wanted by Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, who could all probably out-bid Barcelona if push came to shove, unfortunately.
Electrifying and fleet-footed, Jeremy Doku would make for a nice project to succeed Dembele.
The 21-year-old hasn’t quite kicked on since his marvellous performances at Euro 2020 but he has continually been linked with the continent’s biggest clubs. Why couldn’t it be Barcelona that takes a punt on his potential and upside?
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