Barcelona have made bringing in a midfielder who can sit in front of the defence their number one priority this summer, and two names stand out as preferences for Xavi Hernandez: Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich and Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi.
While Barcelona received bad news regarding their hopes of bringing in Zubimendi following a meeting with his agent, the forecast for Kimmich is much brighter. The chief problem of his price tag, one which Bayern have not set for a player they intend to renew, remains. The 29-year-old has a year left on his deal though, which forces the issue, even if Bayern are intent on retaining him, and are already trying to persuade him.
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As per Sport, Kimmich will make life easier for Barcelona though. The German metronome is willing to wait for the Blaugrana to put together the money for a bid this summer, one that will surely rely on sales happening first. Kimmich is open to trying a new experience, and so is open to do his part to make that happen.
Until Barcelona make those sales, and likely ‘painful ones’, their hopes of bringing in Kimmich are hypothetical, as is the case for Zubimendi. Bayern are unlikely to make things easy for Barcelona either, as they found out when pursuing Robert Lewandowski, which ended with them paying €50m for a 32-year-old, and given Kimmich is three years younger, it’s not hard to imagine them demanding something in that region.
