Barcelona are reportedly ready to try offering cash plus Danish defender Andreas Christensen to Newcastle in a bid to finally sign Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barca still hope to sign Guimaraes, but it seems their financial situation means they have to find creative ways to make the deal work.
Financial Fair Play rules look to be limiting what a lot of clubs can do on the market at the moment, and Barcelona surely cannot afford to pay Guimaraes’ £100million release clause.
In that case, it seems the Catalan giants hope that offering Newcastle Christensen could sway the deal in their favour, though one imagines the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain could also be a few of the teams to watch in the race for Guimaraes’ signature.
Bruno Guimaraes transfer: What next for the Newcastle star?
Barcelona fans will no doubt be dismayed that they can no longer spend the kind of money we’ve seen from them in the past, when they brought in some of the biggest names in world football on a regular basis.
It doesn’t seem like long ago they were able to splash the cash on the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele, while even just a couple of years ago they brought in Raphinha in what looked like an exciting deal at the time.
Now, however, it looks tricky for them to sign someone like Guimaraes, though we’ll see if the offer of Christensen in the deal can persuade the Magpies to do business.