Barcelona’s pivot problems have been well-documented this season. Following Sergio Busquets’ departure at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, Oriol Romeu was signed as a financially-viable replacement, as the Catalans could not buy a big name due to their ongoing money problems.
Since arriving, Romeu has struggled, which has meant that he has rarely played over the last few months. Instead, Frenkie de Jong and Ilkay Gundogan have been utilised in deeper roles, although Barcelona’s intention is to play both in their natural positions, although a new pivot is needed in order for this to happen.
As such, it is likely that Barcelona will try to sign a new defensive midfielder in the summer, and one player they could go for is Fulham’s Joao Palhinha. The Portuguese international “would be delighted” to sign for the Catalan club, according to Sport, citing sporting and personal reasons for wanting the move.
The problem for Barcelona is that Fulham would demand a large fee, likely to be in the region of €60m. They could struggle to reach this because of their financial woes, and to make matters worse, Bayern Munich are also very interested in Palhinha.
