Newcastle United have been handed a potential transfer boost with Premier League-linked Florian Wirtz highly unlikely to join a Barcelona side suffering from crippling financial problems this summer, according to Sky Germany.
When Frenkie de Jong took the opportunity to once again commit his future to the Catalan giants – making his feelings about a switch to Manchester United painfully clear – Barca’s hopes of an extensive summer rebuild suffered a blow.
The runaway La Liga leaders will not be able to sign any new players in the off season unless they raise £178 million first. De Jong, meanwhile, was one of their most sellable assets. Now, with the Dutchman determined to stay and a key part of Xavi’s plans, Barcelona will have to do some serious pulling of those ‘economic levers’ if they are to bring some of their top targets to the Camp Nou before September.
“As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in its budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window,” La Liga chief Javier Tebas said at the recent Financial Times’ Business of Football summit (Daily Mail).
“We have ruled that they can no longer sign more players.”
Newcastle can take advantage of Barcelona’s financial problems
Barcelona, Sky say, have held talks with the father of Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid Wirtz. An imminent switch to the Camp Nou is, however, ‘out of the question’; the Germany international’s £60 million price-tag well beyond Barcelona’s means for the time being.
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Opportunity knocks for Newcastle United, then; Barca’s monetary malaise opening up a window of opportunity for an ambitious, Saudi-backed Magpies side looking to lure football’s next generation of superstars to St James’ Park (Mail).
19-year-old Wirtz, tipped to become Germany’s best-ever player by one pundit, recently bounced back from a long -term injury and has two goals and six assists in just 13 Leverkusen appearances this season.
“Wirtz is going to be the best player in Germany ever, I think,” says former Schalke and Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Simon Cziommer.
“You can write that down. He’ll be much better than Kai Havertz in any case. At a young age he has all the skills to play between the lines, to find the right solution and excel in the small spaces.
“(He has) a good shot, good link-up play, he’s strong one on one. He’s a real number ten.”
In other news, “Flattering’: Theo Walcott sends message to Tottenham, comments on Ward-Prowse and Forster
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