Erling Haaland and Sergio Aguero are among six big-name summer targets for Barcelona, according to reports.
Having been sworn in for a second term as Barca president, Joan Laporta has got straight to work thinking about the club’s potential transfer dealings.
According to AS (via Sport Witness), the Catalan giants have also earmarked Lyon’s Memphis Depay, Bayern Munich’s David Alaba, Liverpool’s Gini Wijnaldum and Aguero’s Manchester City teammate Eric Garcia as possible signings.
Barca are not in a position to splash the cash, with the pandemic having hit their finances hard, although all of those players bar Borussia Dortmund hitman Haaland are set to become free agents at the end of the season. Garcia is a product of the club's famed La Masia academy.
Aguero and Wijnaldum have been the names most strongly linked with a move to the Camp Nou in recent months, with some sources suggesting that a deal for Wijnaldum is all but complete.
A more pressing issue for Laporta and Barca, though, is the future of Lionel Messi, who is out of contract in June.
Speaking on the matter, Laporta said: “I will try to convince Leo to stay with us. That is a must-do task, I will do all I can. He knows it.
“Whatever he does will be ok, but we will try to make him stay because he is the best player in the history of football.”
Barca were knocked out of the Champions League by PSG last month, failing to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years. However, they could yet complete a domestic double; they trail La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid by four points with 11 games remaining and face Athletic Bilbao in next month’s Copa del Rey final.
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