THE CENTER-BACK PREFERS TO PLAY FOR BARÇA
TRANSFER IN PROGRESS: Barcelona, favorite in the race for Jonathan Tah
Published:14/12/2024 - 00:01h
Updated:14/12/2024 - 00:01h
The FC Barcelona board has the signing of Jonathan Tah well underway. The center-back would arrive at 'zero cost' after a decade at Bayer Leverkusen
Jonathan Tah could be the first signing of the next summer transfer window for FC Barcelona. On December 5, Deco held a 'summit' with the player and his agent, Pini Zahavi, with whom Joan Laporta has an excellent relationship. After the meeting, leaked by 'Jijantes', the operation was very well underway, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, who specializes in transfers.
🚨🔵🔴 Barça have made their initial proposal to Jonathan Tah for June 2025 as free agent, talks advanced — ahead of Bayern.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 6, 2024
There are details to fix but positive meeting took place between Deco and Pini Zahavi, same agent as Flick.
Tah was also there, as @JijantesFC revealed. pic.twitter.com/WiwdsBBQNz
The 28-year-old defender has already ruled out renewing with Bayer Leverkusen, the team he joined almost a decade ago (in 2015) from Hamburg. Likewise, the 'summit' with Barça would have allowed him to clear his doubts about the Blaugrana sports project, as the center-back has very interesting financial offers from Bayern Munich and other top clubs for next summer.
For Tah, beyond the financial factor, the priority is to sign with a club capable of aspiring to everything. With Hansi Flick on the bench, the German international hopes to make the definitive leap to the European elite, although the results obtained under the orders of Xabi Alonso have allowed him to establish himself in his national team. In that sense, Barça would already have a much clearer idea of the defense composition for the next season, with a move that would require parting ways with at least two players.
The Barça plan following the possible arrival of Jonathan Tah
The ones sacrificed, in principle, would be Eric García and Andreas Christensen, as the excellent level of Iñigo Martínez in the first half of the 2024/25 season gives strong reasons to trust in his renewal. There are also currently no doubts about Ronald Araujo's continuity, as long as he manages to recover his usual level in the coming months.
With that in mind, the board would already have their first reinforcement for the next season well underway, a defender with the necessary quality and experience to accompany any of the Blaugrana center-backs. For now, Pau Cubarsí retains his undisputed starting position, although he has been making more mistakes than usual in the last two matches (mainly against Dortmund).