Barcelona waste no time, these are the players they want to sign next year

Barcelona had many problems during this transfer window to agree the arrival of new players. The financial fair play issues they have been facing for years have prevented them from spending a lot of money on wages, let alone transfers. That is why they have had to target players who have finished their contracts with their previous clubs, such as Ilkay Gundogan and Iñigo Martínez, or sign on loan, such as Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix.

Now that the transfer window has closed, the club's sporting director, Deco, has a new objective: to agree a contract renewal with Xavi Hernandez. This does not seem to have too much difficulty, as the coach himself expressed on several occasions that they are close to doing so.

Once this issue is resolved, Deco will be able to concentrate on the search for players for the next transfer windows. The next one will be in January, when they will be able to add reinforcements to face the second part of the season. According to Sport, the Blaugranas' priority is to find a holding midfielder, as for now the only one in the squad is Oriol Romeu.

There are several names on the shortlist. The first is Guido Rodriguez, Real Betis player and world champion with Argentina's national team in Qatar 2022. There are also two Portuguese players that Deco knows very well: Joao Palinha of Fulham and Florentino Luis of Benfica. And finally there is Arthur Vermeeren, a player from Antwerp of Belgium.

The other targets

Barcelona will also try to tempt players who next year will end their contracts with their respective clubs, as they did with Ilkay Gundogan and Iñigo Martínez. Some of them are Eric Dier (Tottenham), Victor Lindelof (Manchester United), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Pablo Fornals (West Ham United), Anthony Martial (Manchester United) and Alvaro Morata (Atlético Madrid). Kylian Mbappé will also be a free agent as of July 2024, but his future seems to be at Real Madrid.