Barcelona are monitoring a number of free agent options ahead of next summer and many of them are in the Premier League, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Director of Football Mateu Alemany has publicly said that Barcelona will continue to pursue free agent options next summer as they try to both strengthen their squad but remain fiscally responsible.
Speaking to Caught Offside, Romano made it clear that there was something in the links that have emerged in recent weeks.
“We know Barcelona want free agents again next summer as it’s a strategy that worked well for them last year, so we’re inevitably seeing a lot of names linked with the club.”
“Barcelona have been linked with Ilkay Gundogan, Youri Tielemans, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and several other free agents… it’s normal, they keep close eye on top free agents and they will explore that market again.”
Romano made the comments in his column, but assured that there was nothing close to done yet.
“At the moment, though, nothing is advanced with any of these players; Gundogan has not decided yet on his future. Tielemans will not sign a new deal with Leicester for sure but he’s still waiting to decide the next step.”
As per Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona’s hopes of signing Ilkay Gundogan could depend on Jude Bellingham. If Manchester City secure the signature of Bellingham, Gundogan will consider departing the club, a decision he is set to make in spring.
If he does wait until spring to make the decision, it could leave Barcelona somewhat in a tricky place in terms of their forward planning. The other options on that list will likely have made their decisions by then, so going to a back up plan to signing Gundogan might not be an option. Looking at last year, both Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie seemed to be deals that were more or less wrapped up in February.
