Barcelona are close to coming to an agreement with another free agent as they met with a representative of former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.
According to Sport, the group had a reunion in the offices of the Camp Nou. The meeting was originally thought to have been between club representatives and Ronald Koeman to decide on his future.
More from Playing for 90
- Alexia Putellas reaches 400 games with Barcelona
- Everything you need to know ahead of the 250th ‘Super Clásico’
- Barcelona put five past Real Betis
- Manchester City suffer but come away with win over West Ham
- Baffling Liga MX ruling strips Puebla of a hard-earned victory
That was not the case, however. Instead Laporta and Mateu Alemany met with Jan Kabalt, a Dutch lawyer.
The Dutch midfielder was also drawing interest from Bayern Munich but Wijnaldum prefers to play for Barcelona. His potential signing is also not linked to the continuity of Koeman as previously thought.
Wijnaldum joins the growing list of Barcelona free agent signings
Should both sides come to an agreement, Wijnaldum would join Eric Garcia, Sergio Aguero and possibly Memphis Depay in a long list of free agent signings.
The Catalan giants don’t have a lot of financial flexibility to pay huge transfer fees so they’ve had to resort to signings such as these. It’s something the likes of Juventus and Bayern Munich have done in the past to much success.
While no possible terms have been disclosed, it is believed Wijnaldum is set to sign a three-year deal and has also agreed to lower his wage demands.
The initial concerns when Barcelona were first linked with Wijnaldum was he would take playing time away from some of the younger players. That may no longer be the case if they decide to sell Sergi Roberto. The La Masia player’s contract ends in 2022 and Barcelona are unlikely to offer an extension.
Wijnaldum’s signing would bring experience to a relatively young midfielder excluding Sergio Busquets. It would also likely mean the end of Miralem Pjanic’s Barcelona tenure. A deal is expected to be agreed upon soon.