Bayern Munich planning summer swoop for €60 million-rated Barcelona midfield target

Barcelona cannot afford to head into the new season without a pivot signing in the summer, especially after seeing how it has impacted the team this season.

Oriol Romeu was expected to be the stop-gap replacement for Sergio Busquets, but completely fell out of favour when his performances started declining before the mid-way point of the season.

Xavi trusted Ilkay Gundogan to put in a shift in that position, but it became increasingly clear that the German needed to be fielded in a more advanced position if you want to get the best out of him.

Andreas Christensen has been filling in as a holding midfielder since then, and has done rather well given the circumstances.

However, he is far from a long-term solution, and as such, Barcelona have set their eyes on Everton’s Amadou Onana to reinforce the the position. However, they may have their target swooped from underneath them.

Bayern Munich planning swoop

According to a report by SPORT, Bayern Munich are interested in Andre Onana and are planning to swoop him from underneath Barcelona this summer.

Barcelona do not have the finances to compete with Bayern right now, and will not be able to offer the €60 million-odd Everton want for Onana. Their best bet would be a €40 million bid, which is not going to convince the Merseyside outfit.

Now 22, Onana is ready to take the next big step in his career, and while reports have suggested a preference for Barcelona, it seems highly unlikely that he will wait for the blaugranes.

He is also represented by Pini Zahavi, who has good relations with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, so the move could sway either way right now.

Manchester United are also interested in his signature.

The relegation discount?

There is one thing that can still go in Barcelona’s favour in their pursuit of Onana, and that is if Everton get relegated from the Premier League.

They are currently sitting in 16th place, four points clear of the bottom-three, but have not won any of their last 11 games in the Premier League, and only one across 15 games in all competitions.

Should they be pushed down to the Championship, Onana’s asking price could reduce to €30-40 million, which could be affordable for Barcelona, in theory.