March 29, (THEWILL) – Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has revealed that the club has already completed two free transfers ahead of the summer, but stopped short of revealing the names of the players in particular.
With funds still tight at Camp Nou, Barcelona is eyeing a slew of upcoming free players to improve their roster, with talks progressing more slowly with some than others.
“We’ve completed two signings for the next season: one is a midfielder, the other one is a centre-back,” Laporta confirmed. “But I’m not allowed to mention their names.”
Despite Laporta’s desire to keep the information close to his chest, it is possible to identify the duo as one midfielder and one centre-back. Based on available information, the midfielder in question is AC Milan’s Franck Kessie, who turned down a move to Tottenham to join Camp Nou instead.
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Andreas Christensen is the center-back. The Dane, who was on the verge of a contract extension at Stamford Bridge, has chosen to leave and move to Spain at the conclusion of the season.
If Laporta gets his way, Barcelona will make more of such signings. They have offered a contract to Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui and hope to complete the deal, but Bayern Munich has joined the competition for his signing and threatens to disrupt the Catalan move.
The German giants are said to have given the 24-year-old better financial terms, with Barcelona unwilling to go any higher than their initial offer.
Cesar Azpilicueta, another Chelsea player, is also being courted. The Spaniard is also out of contract in the summer, but he has a one-year extension clause in his current contract that they were hesitant to activate before their takeover began out of respect for their long-serving captain.
With new ownership expected to arrive at Stamford Bridge soon, it is unclear what the future holds for Azpilicueta, who has refused to address his contract position publicly.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
