Not every operation that FC Barcelona pursues ends up coming into fruition simply because of their pursuit. While it is true that the Catalan giants are quite the persuasive bunch, even they are susceptible to rejection. However, certain rejections are definitely harder than others for Barcelona to digest.
Since quite some time, Barcelona have been following the progression of several promising and quality pivots. Knowing that they have to recruit one in the summer to improve their squad for next season, the name of Joshua Kimmich was one that seemed to have a lot of suitors within FC Barcelona.
Xavi Hernandez, the soon-to-depart Barcelona coach, has been a huge fan of the German midfielder. His hopes lied in the fact that the Bayern Munich star could possibly arrive at Barça in the summer, and his replacement, Hansi Flick, also seems to be a great fan of bringing his former student from Bayern and the German National team over to Barcelona.
However, as per SPORT, this operation will likely not be as smooth as it was originally hoped to be. The initial proposal sent by FC Barcelona to Joshua Kimmich and his entourage has already been rejected by the German player, as his side believes that La Blaugrana are far away from their economic demands at the moment.
As per the same report, the 29-year-old Bayern star currently demands a salary of around €19.5 million from his Bavarian employers. This amount is something Barcelona simply can not match at the moment, partly due to the uncertainty of having access to the 1:1 rule in the summer transfer window.
Moreover, knowing that Robert Lewandowski will be demanding an extraordinary salary next season, Barcelona have to be extremely careful with their salary space.
Incorporating Kimmich would be a welcome addition, but it would need to be on economically sustainable terms.
At the moment, however, the demands of the player and the offer that Barcelona are willing to put on the table are too far apart.
As such, negotiations have stalled for now as per the latest update. It remains to be seen exactly who ends up arriving as the Barcelona pivot for next season, but Kimmich undoubtedly remains one of Barça’s favorite targets. However, it must still be remembered that he is not the only one on the list of potential targets.
