Karim Adeyemi Karim Adeyemi celebrates scoring in the Champions League.
Barcelona and new coach Xavi are busy making plans for the summer 2022 transfer window when the club’s economic situation is expected to have improved and already have two targets in mind.
Director of football Mateu Alemany has said the cash-strapped Catalan giants can’t register new players in January 2022, as things stand, but the club should be in a healthier financial position at the end of the season.
Barcelona have already set two “specific goals” for next summer. The first is to sign RB Salzburg striker Karim Adeyemi, while Borussia Monchengladbach winger Denis Zakaria is also on the Catalan giants’ radar, as reported by Xavi Lemus at TV3.
Adeyemi is a highly-rated 19-year-old attacked but Barca know “his signing will not be easy due to competition” from Bundesliga teams such as Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Meanwhile, Zakaria is a versatile midfielder who has “a profile similar to that of Yaya Touré.” The 24-year-old is also a full Switzerland international and is out of contract at Gladbach in the summer of 2022.
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Adeyemi Meets With PSG?
Barcelona have been given some encouragement in their pursuit of Adeyemi with Catalunya Radio’s Roger Arbusa reporting the 19-year-old sees the Catalan giants as his “first option.”
The teenager is thought to be keen on moving to the Camp Nou at the end of the season to work with new coach Xavi and become part of a rebuilding project which would also include youngsters such as Ansu Fati, Pedri, and Gavi.
Yet Adeyemi’s impressive performances for RB Salzburg this season mean he won’t lack for suitors. The striker has 11 goals in 13 league appearances for the Austrian side and 3 in 4 Champions League outings.
Bayern and Dortmund have already been linked with Adeyemi, while his agent, Manfred Schwabl, has also met Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain for talks, as reported by Sport1’s Florian Plettenberg.
Zakaria Wants Barcelona Move?
It’s a similar story with Zakaria, particularly as the midfielder will be available as a free agent at the end of the season. However, Barca have also been given hope that Zakaria favors a move to the Camp Nou.
The 24-year-old has already turned down a move to Roma as well as a new contract at Borussia Monchengladbach because he’s holding out for a transfer to Barcelona, as reported by Diario Sport.
Barca hardly lack for options in the middle of the park but Zakaria does offer a slightly different profile to the midfielders currently available to Xavi and could be a good option as he will be a free agent.
Zakaria has been in action for Switzerland over the international break and impressed in the team’s 1-1 World Cup qualifier against European champions Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.
Barca will be hoping their current financial difficulties will have eased by next summer, but the club still look unlikely to be able to land big names and may instead be forced to look at low-cost options and free transfers.
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