Pep Guardiola steals Barcelona’s prime target mercilessly

Barcelona lose out their prime target to Pep Guardiola this summer

Life lately has not been kind to both Pep Guardiola of Manchester City and Quique Setien of Barcelona as they have dropped crucial points in their last few fixtures. The Sky Blues of Manchester were handed a one-nil defeat to Southhampton at the St Mary’s Stadium after Ederson was caught out of position by Che Adams.

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Meanwhile, the Blaugrana have finally shown a few signs of improvement after their thumping victory against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Quique Setien’s future at Camp Nou still remains uncertain despite the thumping victory and so does the future of Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi as the pair have been linked with a move away from Barca despite their impressive performance at the Estadio de la Ceramica.

As the coaching staff under Setien focus on clinching all three points in the next four remaining games of the league, the board at Barca have turned their attention towards the transfer market as they hope to make a few signings within their limited budget. Josep Maria Bartomeu was eager to sign Mikel Oyarzabal of Real Sociedad this summer after the Spanish winger has proven his worth by performing consistently for the last three seasons.

So is Barcelona signing Mikel Oyarzabal this season?

According to Mundo Deportivo, Manchester City has shown serious interest in signing the Real Sociedad winger who is the second-highest assist provider this season in the  La Liga Santander. Pep Guardiola considers his countryman to be the ideal replacement for Leroy Sane on the left-wing who has officially signed for Bayern Munich.

Mikel Oyarzabal would certainly opt for the Sky Blues over the Blaugrana since he would get a starting role under Guardiola and would achieve his dream of playing in the Premier League. The reason why Mikel might turn down Barca’s offer would due to the secondary role the club has offered.

Since Barca have Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho on the left-wing for the upcoming season, Mikel Oyarzabal would be more or less of a bench warmer and the 23-year-old talented Spaniard cannot afford to risk his career by warming the bench at the Camp Nou.

Another reason could be that Manchester City is currently in a better position than Barcelona and the winger would have higher chances of winning more trophies. The Catalan club is currently in turmoil given the incompetent board along with the controversies surrounding the coaching staff and the locker room makes the club an unattractive destination.

Do you Mikel would opt for the Premier League over the Spanish league?