Barcelona and their potential transfer for one of Europe’s upcoming midfielders could already be called off as neither party has shown much interest.
Barcelona are looking to sign young midfielders in the upcoming months to add firepower to their engine room which has visibly lacked creativity. Frenkie de Jong has been the only consistent player from the squad and with Arthur Melo potentially set for a move to Juventus, the club wants to sign a player of similar age besides bringing in Miralem Pjanic.
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Don Balon has reported that Aleksei Miranchuk may be on the move to the Camp Nou. The Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder is versatile and can fit anywhere in the centre of the park as well as play as a forward occasionally which has proven handy for the Russian giants. The player first caught attention of European outlets in the Champions League this season.
While Lokomotiv Moscow were last in their group and indeed a hapless side in front of their experienced opponents, the 24-year-old was impressive against all the teams which they faced- Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus. Having said that, his value of just 15 million euros has caught the eye of several other clubs wishing to sign him.
From Spain itself, there is interest from Andalusian rivals Real Betis and Sevilla, who seem attracted by the player’s price tag. Miranchuk, dubbed widely as the ‘next Mesut Ozil’ has a brilliant passing ability and can find neat ball to carve defences apart, which is a welcome asset for all teams which play attacking football and often come up against solid backlines.
Unfortunately, Barca have decided to pull the plug on the player and Lionel Messi has been unhappy at the board’s decision. Josep Maria Bartomeu and his company felt that the club require a more experienced and proven player at a critical stage where things are not ideal. However, Messi thinks that Soviet players have succeeded at the club and this time there won’t be a let-off either.
Miranchuk himself does not seem to be interested in joining the Blaugrana either because they simply cannot guarantee him minutes which he would get by joining a mid-table side. That being said, the player is right from his point of view to spend his developmental years by being involved where Barca’s board is correct too, since the club needs to challenge for the Champions League and in such competitions, experience makes a huge difference.
Which attacking midfielder would you like the Catalans to go for in the transfer window?