Barcelona have clear intentions heading into the summer transfer market as they plan to make some crucial changes to their squad in an attempt to compete at the highest level in Europe.
Real Madrid have recently officially completed the signing of Kylian Mbappe on a free transfer after his tenure at PSG, and Barcelona will hope to go head-to-head against them while being severely financially handicapped.
One of the things they will be relying on this summer is hoping that there are world-class players who want to play for Barcelona, and prefer the prestige over the money.
As such, they have curated a list of the positions they want to reinforce with a fair few players on their agenda to match it.
One of the areas of concern is, of course, the holding midfield position, and the Catalans’ pick for it is Joshua Kimmich, who will not be easy to sign.
Flick to lead pursuit
According to a report published by SPORT, Hansi Flick is a huge fan of Kimmich, and has informed the club he wants the club to pursue the German’s signature in the summer.
Barcelona have started negotiations with Bayern for Kimmich – he is their priority target for the position.
They have already presented their initial offer for the player, who is on wages of €19.5 million gross right now. He is not happy with satisfied with Barça’s proposal.
However, this is where Flick can be very important for Barcelona. He coached Kimmich at Bayern and Germany, and has a good relationship with him.
The coach will try to do everything in his power to join Barça’s project. He wants to be directly involved in this transfer pursuit.
Kimmich has only rejected the first offer from Barcelona, but is still open to talking to the club about a summer move, especially since he represents himself in negotiations.
Barcelona ready to table new offer
Barcelona are not ready to back down after Kimmich’s initial rejection, and ready to table another offer for his services.
The player will have to do his part and push the transfer, as well, especially since Bayern Munich will likely ask for a fat check in exchange for his services.
Kimmich’s contract ends in the summer of 2025, which means he should be available at a slashed price this off-season. Bayern are infamously tough negotiators, though, which means this saga could last the entire summer, at least.
