Barcelona transfer news: Goretzka picks next destination, Messi tells club to keep player and more - 2nd November 2017
Goretzka wants to join Barcelona
Schalke's Leon Goretzka has decided to join the Spanish giants, if Mundo Deportivo is to be believed. The 22-year old is a key player for both Schalke 04 as well as the German national team and is out of a contract next June.
As a result, Bayern Munich were rumoured to be Goretzka's next destination but the player squashed that news right away. Now, the Spanish outlet reports that the box-to-box midfielder has told his agent Jorg Neubauer that Ernesto Valverde's side is his preferred destination next year.
It remains to be seen whether Barcelona try to sign the player, be it in January or summer, and whether this will affect their pursuit of Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.
Messi tells Barcelona to keep Aleix Vidal
The 28-year old is among a few others Barcelona is looking to offload in 2018 to trim the wage bill before signing more players. However, the right-back received the greatest possible boost to extend his stay from none other than Lionel Messi.
Spanish outlet Diario Gol reports that the Argentine has told Ernesto Valverde and the club to refrain from selling Vidal. Injuries to players such as Ousmane Dembele, Andres Iniesta and Arda Turan amongst others have reduced the squad depth. Hence, Messi opines further departures would affect the depth needed to fight on all fronts.
This could cause a change in transfer strategy from Barcelona as previous reports stated that the Catalan club has an agreement with Sevilla in January to sell Vidal.
Barcelona want Leipzig's Upamecano and Werner
Ernesto Valverde is planning a major rebuilding of the team in 2018 with several arrivals and departures expected. Now Mundo Deportivo reports that the Blaugrana are interested in RB Leipzig's young duo Dayot Upamecano and Timo Werner.
Barcelona's sporting director Robert Fernandez attended the Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Leipzig to monitor the targets. Upamecano is touted to be the long-term replacement for Gerard Pique while Werner is wanted by the Spanish club to replace Luis Suarez.
Both Pique and Suarez are above 30 years of age and the Leipzig duo could prove to be shrewd signings, especially Werner's, as he is already a German international at the age of 21.