FC Barcelona are currently at a point where several of their positions are heavily reinforced. The arrivals of the likes of Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, and Inigo Martinez have massively boosted the confidence and depth within this current Barcelona squad.
However, one position where Barcelona definitely need recruitment is the central defensive position. After the loss of Barça legend Sergio Busquets, the Catalan club was in urgent need of a new recruit in that position and ended up going after Oriol Romeu.
Arriving from Girona, Romeu ended up being the low-cost option that Barcelona could actually afford given their limited financial allowance. Acquiring his services for close to €3 million, Barcelona were able to land a player that had his roots in La Masia and has been a good servant to the club thus far.
However, as reported by ESPN, Barcelona had their sights set much higher initially. Lurking on the possibility of signing Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, the Catalan club would ultimately be unsuccessful in their attempts to lure him away.
According to ESPN, Kimmich was offered to Barcelona in the summer but due to their limited finances, they simply could not afford to bring him in. As a result, they had to go for a more cost-effective signing such as Oriol Romeu to compensate in that position for the time being.
Barcelona still remain hopeful that come next summer, Bayern Munich may be more willing to negotiate a lowered fee for their 28-year-old German star. They believe this because Kimmich has a contract that is set to run out in 2025 and if they are unable to agree to a deal in the summer of 2024, he may end up leaving as a free agent next year either way.
Interestingly, Kimmich has publicly even claimed before that his footballing idol has always been Xavi Hernandez. From one great to the next, a possible coming together in Catalonia would be an ideal scenario for Xavi’s Barça to see a true German legend in the making light up the Camp Nou one day.