Barcelona are searching for a successor to Sergio Busquets this summer, and manager Xavi Hernandez has made it clear that it should be their number one priority, even ahead of bringing back Lionel Messi.
Xavi went as far as to say that a Busquets replacement was essential in order to compete for titles next season. As such, MD say they will continue their pursuit of Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich.
The German midfielder has been linked with Barcelona in recent weeks, despite reports from Germany that he is not for sale at any price.
Barcelona intend to let them know their interest in a formal manner once they get La Liga approval of their financial plans, and thus permission to sign players without restrictions. Bayern themselves are in a state of flux, after Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn were sacked.
There is one key factor that they may be able to rely on – Kimmich is a big fan of Xavi. Seemingly he would be open to hearing Xavi’s plans for him, having grown up idolising former captain on the pitch. The Catalan daily also note that Kimmich has friends at the club in Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Robert Lewandowski.
Barcelona perhaps hold some belief in their ability to extract Kimmich having done so with Lewandowski last summer. However a number of factors are different. The Polish striker was in the final year of his contract, and was ageing into his mid-thirties. Lewandowski also came out and publicly declared his desire to leave, something Kimmich may not be willing to do.
