Hansi Flick rejects the signing of a renowned midfielder

It is no secret to anyone that FC Barcelona, ​​despite apparently being focused on the incorporation of Nico Williams or another stellar left-winger, as well as Dani Olmo, a player who mainly works as a midfielder, but who can occupy various positions in the offensive front is also considering hiring an experienced midfielder. Although this matter has fallen one notch on the club's list of priorities, and it has even been suggested that it could be covered internally, the option of making a big-name addition this summer has not been ruled out.

In this sense, it had been mentioned that Mikel Merino of Real Sociedad was the favorite to strengthen this demarcation. The player from Pamplona represented a 'low cost' alternative that fit the 'box to box' profile so valued in a game proposal with as much physical deployment as the one put into practice by Hansi Flick's teams. However, given the apparent lack of action by the Catalan team to make a move for the CA Osasuna youth player, everything indicates that this operation could fall through, especially due to Arsenal's strong interest in acquiring his services.

At this point, another of the alternatives that the culé club apparently considered was to reinforce itself with a player who could have had the 'covered' role: N'Golo Kanté. At 33 years old, and despite currently being in Saudi Arabian football with Al-Ittihad, the Parisian, after having an impeccable European Championship with the French team, proved to be a tireless footballer capable of carrying out defensive work in the zone core, being that 'muscle' in a 'Les Bleus' midfield where there are plenty of 'players'. From this, it was clear that he still retains a stellar football level to return to action in football on the 'Old Continent'.

The reason why the possible Kanté-FC Barcelona union fell apart

However, as we mentioned at FCBN, this option was perhaps not the most realistic of all. The former Chelsea player, being an established star, would not have been an economic addition (with a minimum price of €25 million) and, of course, his emoluments, based on his current salary in the Arab cast of around €24.5 'kilos' net, would have represented a complex salary burden to assume unless he was willing to significantly reduce his salary.

Now, from 'Mundo Deportivo', they also suggest a new reason why the Barcelona team ended up ruling out the possibility of acquiring the services of N'Golo Kanté: Hansi Flick. In 'MD' it is argued that the refusal is due to the fact that the German coach apparently preferred to first evaluate the youngsters in the house and the performance they can offer before making any new hire.

In this context, the one from Baden-Württemberg has been consistent with his approach, since during the 2024/25 preseason he has chosen to give prominence to the midfield pair formed by Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal. He has lined them up as starters in the matches against Manchester City (2-2) and Real Madrid (1-2), both showing notable performance that, if maintained over time, could reduce the urgency of acquiring a new midfielder this summer.