Despite the option of Marcelo Brozovic potentially emerging back on the table, it seems like Barcelona are progressing with an alternate option to strengthen the pivot position with Oriol Romeu.
Indeed, according to Gerard Romero, Barcelona are advancing in negotiations with Girona for Romeu, who himself had a meeting with his agent earlier today.
Romeu is a player that Barça know well, considering that he came through the youth ranks at La Masia and even made a couple of senior appearances before leaving for Chelsea in 2011.
It was at Southampton, though, where he gained experience, spending seven years at St. Mary’s before joining Girona last summer.
Back in La Liga, the 31-year-old enjoyed a solid campaign with the Catalan outfit, making 33 appearances in which he even scored a couple of goals.
Now, the midfielder could get to fulfil the dream of playing for Barcelona again as talks between the La Liga champions and their local rivals progress in the right direction.
Romeu has a release clause worth €10 million in his contract. But reports suggest that Girona would be open to lowering that price, if a player is included as part of the operation.
Either way, negotiations seem to be progressing well, and given the nominal fee involved, it might not be difficult for Barcelona to complete the signing of their former midfielder in the coming days.
While Romeu would not exactly be a like-for-like replacement for Sergio Busquets, Barcelona are not in a position to go after their primary targets, Martin Zubimendi and Joshua Kimmich, as confirmed by president Joan Laporta himself in an interview on Thursday.
“These are operations that we are not considering at the moment, due to the significant economic level,” he had said.
As such, Barcelona may have to settle for Romeu as a short-term option before going for their ideal replacement for Busquets once their financial situation has improved.
