Barcelona looking for a new defensive midfielder to take over captain Sergio Busquets. Hence manager Xavi Hernandez is keen on bringing Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi to the club. However, the La Liga winners will face various obstacles in their pursuit of the 24-year-old. However, Zubimendi has a €60 million release clause in his Real Sociedad contract. Moreover he is unwilling to leave the club.
Barcelona looking for new pivot midfielders in market
As a result, according to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona has set up three potential replacements in case they do not sign Zubimendi. And the three options that the La Liga winners are going to consider in that case are Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic, Real Betis’ Guido Rodriguez, and Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, though the latter is thought to be far down the shortlist at Barça.
According to the report, Barcelona regards Brozovic as a technically competent and established player with good positional understanding. The Catalans attempted to incorporate his signing in January with a swap deal of Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie. But unfortunately the deal fell through.
Real Betis might not retain Guido Rodriguez beyond this summer. The argentine is a player who attracts Barça, despite the fact that he is a few levels below Zubimendi. While the Argentine is capable of retrieving balls, his distribution skills are poor.
Finally, Amrabat is certain to be the last choice for Barcelona. However some reports claims that the 26-year-old is first on the wish list, ahead of Zubimendi. While the club staff admires his physicality and ability to reclaim possession, there are concerns about the player’s capacity to endure opposition pressure.
It remains to be determined which way the Catalan giants will go in their hunt to find a successor for Busquets. However it seems that finding an identical replacement will be difficult.
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