They insist on placing a 'heavyweight' away from FC Barcelona

Published:30/07/2024 - 14:13h

Updated:30/07/2024 - 14:13h

FC Barcelona knows that some new arrivals could be key to completing its summer planning, and although there are several 'heavy' names that seem untouchable in terms of departures, some reports maintain that the Catalan club could still force some departures

FC Barcelona are not yet closed to trying to make any important sales this summer. Although the operations for Ronald Araújo and Frenkie de Jong have been almost ruled out due to their respective injuries, the name of Ilkay Gündogan is still on the table after the player received several approaches before the Euro Cup, and decided to 'pass' on them.

Now, the German has rejoined the Blaugrana team along with Raphinha, although his future is not entirely clear, as it seems that the Brazilian's is. And in Germany they have assured that Barça would be willing to let him go as long as the midfielder agrees to leave, something that right now does not seem to be a reality.

The Barça is working in convincing to Gündogan of his goodbye

'Sky' points out that there are several offers on the table but Gündogan seems to be clear that he wants to stay, at least for one more season. The idea of the player would be to finish his contract at Barça in 2025, remembering that he has an optional third year. The main problem would be that the player arrived on a free transfer and his salary is one of the highest in the squad, something that would be complicated for the Barça salary cap in the event that they decided to activate that third year that exists in the agreement between both parties.

In fact, right now Barça would not look down on his departure, especially to try to free up wages, knowing also that the midfield seems to be a fairly covered line, although there are current injuries to Gavi, De Jong and Pedri. That is why the Barça entity will respect the player's will if he finally wants to continue, understanding that he could also contribute a lot, as he did last year.

The German does not prioritise his exit this summer

Gundogan has reportedly received offers from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, although he is not too interested in accepting them this summer. The German international was one of the players most used by Xavi Hernandez last season, although it remains to be seen what role Hansi Flick has prepared for him in his project if Barça ends up playing with two pivots as midfielders, remembering that the German likes to be a much more offensive midfielder.