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Barcelona have been offered the chance to sign the Sevilla forward as Ronald Koeman remains keen to step up his attack.
Barcelona still have a lot of work to do before the summer transfer window closes. The Catalans had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Athletico Bilbao on Saturday night. President of the club Joan Laporta et co. are always looking to offload more players in order to reduce their payroll.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the best stories involving Barcelona from August 22, 2021.
Ronald Koeman says teams are showing more courage against Barcelona without Lionel Messi
Barcelona are just starting to feel the effects of living without Lionel Messi. They had to put their noses in stone to score a point against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. Speaking to the press after the game, manager Ronald Koeman said the teams treat Barcelona differently without Messi (via Marca):
“I don’t always like to talk about it, but we are talking about the best player in the world. The opposition is more afraid when Messi is there. If you give Leo a pass, he usually doesn’t lose the ball. You can tell he’s not there. We know that, but it cannot be changed.
Chelsea ready to pay more than RB Leipzig for Ilaix Moriba
Several European giants are keeping an eye on the situation of Ilaix Moriba’s contracts. Ronald Koeman recently criticized the youngster, suggesting that the club would not be able to extend his contract due to his monetary demands. The teenager’s contract expires next summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo (Going through Sports witness), Manchester City will not move for Moriba this summer. They want to offer him a free transfer in the summer. RB Leipzig and Chelsea are the other teams in the race to sign Moriba.
Leipzig are reportedly not interested in matching Barcelona’s € 20million valuation for the young midfielder. Meanwhile, Chelsea are said to be willing to pay more than RB Leipzig, making them favorites to sign Moriba this summer.
Luuk De Jong offered in Barcelona
According to SPORT, Sevilla forward Luuk De Jong has been offered to Barcelona. De Jong played an important role in Sevilla’s 2019-20 Europa League triumph. However, he had a poor 2020-21 campaign, where he scored just nine goals and provided one assist in 48 appearances across all competitions.
Sevilla have signed Rafa Mir from Wolverhampton Wanderers and deemed De Jong to be surplus to requirements. Ronald Koeman wants to sign another striker following the departure of Lionel Messi. Koeman also knew De Jong during his tenure as coach of the Dutch national team.
However, the Catalan top brass are not too interested in De Jong due to his poor form. He only scored four goals in 34 La Liga appearances last season.
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