After Marc Bernal’s ACL injury setback, Barcelona were immediately linked with Liverpool’s young midfielder Stefan Bajcetic. However, it looks like the Catalans are going to miss out on him.
Bernal is going to be out of action for the remainder of the season and other midfielders Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Christensen are also unavailable due to various injuries.
In such a scenario, Barcelona wanted to sign Bajcetic on a short-term loan deal but according to a report in The Athletic, Bajcetic is now heading to Salzburg on a simple one-year loan move.
This is a major setback for Hansi Flick because Pedri and Fermin Lopez are his only two fully-fit central midfielders and even Pedri is massively injury-prone. Thankfully, Deco and Laporta are not sitting with folded hands because according to journalist Toni Juanmarti of SPORT, Barca are planning to make a late move for Adrien Rabiot.
Will Adrien Rabiot be a sensible signing and can Barcelona afford him?
Rabiot’s contract with Juventus expired in June which means the midfielder is now a free agent. This factor will be hugely helpful for Barcelona because they won’t have to pay any sort of transfer fee.
However, signing the 29-year-old will be a tough ask for Barcelona because Adrien Rabiot will have a huge salary demand. At the start of the summer window, reports suggested that the French international had been quoting an annual package of €8 million and it will be very hard for Barcelona to match this demand.
The 29-year-old has been a top performer for Juventus and he can have a similar impact with Barcelona. Last season, he had an average rating of 7.4 out of 10 in 48 games for the Old Lady and along with Pedri, Adrien Rabiot can properly stabilize the Barca midfield. He’s played more than 400 club games for PSG and Juventus and Flick can put his experience to good use.
With so many midfielders out injured, Deco has to bring in a new central midfielder at any cost and if that midfielder is Adrien Rabiot then Hansi Flick will have no complaints. Rabiot is yet to agree to a deal with any club so he will welcome Barcelona’s approach but the Frenchman will be massively sceptical about joining the Catalans because the likes of FDJ, Christensen and Gavi should be fit in one or two months.
Barcelona will have to offer Rabiot a long-term contract along with a healthy salary package to make sure he is convinced. However, given their dismal financial condition, we doubt if the Bluagrana will be able to propose either of these.
