Barcelona and PSG set to battle it out for Wijnaldum

Barcelona and Paris Saint-German are no strangers when it comes to battling it out on the pitch. The same can be said off it.

The two sides find themselves in another race against one another in an effort to land former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

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According to ESPN, PSG have presented a substantially higher offer to the Dutchman and he is leaning towards signing with the Ligue 1 giants.

Barcelona were in the lead to sign Wijnaldum and had even met with his representatives on two occasions as a deal was set to be close. But the offer made by PSG has thrown a wrench in their plans.

Wijnaldum was a favorite of manager Ronald Koeman and is one of the players, along with Memphis Depay, that he had asked the club to go after.

If the Catalans were the favorites to sign Wijnaldum, that is certainly no longer the case as they cannot afford to get into a bidding war with PSG given their financial situation.

Barcelona pessimistic about landing the Dutch midfielder.

The club know they cannot match the terms offered by PSG. They have already let the player’s agents know that they are not going to deviate from the contract the two sides had already agreed on.

Wijnaldum’s potential signing for Barcelona was one that divided the supporters. Those in favor believe he can bring physicality to their midfield and those against believe he’s not needed and taking a spot away from younger midfielders.

In any respect, Barcelona are not optimistic that Wijnaldum will choose them over PSG. According to Sport, sources within the club recognized the “enormous” competition for the player and expressed their belief that they are no longer in pole position to sign him.