Bayern Munich is ready to negotiate Joshua Kimmich’s sale with FC Barcelona on one condition … [+]
Bayern Munich is ready to negotiate Joshua Kimmich’s sale with FC Barcelona on one condition according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Kimmich was one of head coach Xavi Hernandez’s main transfer targets last summer, as the Catalan saw either the German or Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi as the perfect replacement for his outgoing skipper Sergio Busquets.
With Barca’s economic woes the dominant factor, however, a purchase of either man wasn’t possible and the club had to settle for Girona’s Oriol Romeu for a few million dollars instead.
Fast forward a year down the line and Xavi, according to Mundo Deportivo, named Kimmich or Zubimendi as one of three players he demanded should either stay at or join the club in order for him to agree to see out his contract until 2025.
And here’s where things could get complicated, if SPORT‘s report is accurate. On Sunday morning, MD‘s main print rival explains that Bayern is open to negotiating a sale of Kimmich, but only if one of the Barca players it is interested in – such as Ronald Araujo or Frenkie de Jong – is included in the deal.
Considering Kimmich is under contract in Bavaria until the date that Xavi is in Catalonia – June 30 next year to be exact – any kind of part exchange deal would surely see the Bundesliga giants paying their La Liga counterparts a fee for De Jong or Araujo and then including their 2015 signing from RB Leipzig in the arrangement.
Araujo was reportedly one of the players that Xavi insisted must stick around next season as one of the leaders of his sporting project, which means that it is De Jong who could be sent east.
With De Jong set to be Barca’s highest-earner next term thanks to pay that was deferred during the pandemic under ex-president Josep Bartomeu, offloading him would make sense to the club.
Current leader Joan Laporta already accepted a $90 million offer from Manchester United for the Dutchman in 2022 according to The Athletic, but De Jong refused a reunion with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag because of United’s lack of Champions League football plus a desire to succeed under Xavi Hernandez.
At Bayern, though, De Jong could link up with another ex-colleague from the Amsterdam team that reached the 2018/2019 Champions League semifinals in Matthijs de Ligt.
