Barcelona considering summer move for 24-year-old Dutch midfielder

Barcelona’s work will be cut out for the summer as they start to plan life post-Xavi, who has decided to leave the club at the end of the season.

With or without Xavi, though, Barcelona will have to bring in players to plug holes across multiple positions on the pitch. Players who can serve as a long-term solution while fitting into the project, philosophy, and squad rebuild.

This includes the right-back spot, central midfield, the left-wing, but the most important of them all, the pivot role.

Barcelona were hoping Oriol Romeu can plug the the no. 6 position at the club, which has been barren since Sergio Busquets’ departure. However, the Spaniard has not been quite up to the task, and will likely be offloaded in the summer.

Ilkay Gundogan, Frenkie de Jong, and even Andreas Christensen have taken responsibility to fill in that role at some point in the season, but the goal is to bring in a specialised player this summer.

And according to a report from SPORT, on that list, Barcelona have Feyernood’s talented Mats Wieffer.

Barcelona have been keeping tabs on Wieffer across this season, and were even considering a move for him in the winter. However, due to FFP regulations, they could not pursue his signature.

The 24-year-old midfielder fits Barcelona’s agenda perfectly as a pivot player who can also operate in a more advanced position in midfield.

It is clear, though, that there will be a number of teams chasing his services in the summer, especially after the impressive season he has had in the Eredivisie so far.

Barcelona will have to bow out from a bidding war if it comes to that, but they can always use their pull to agree personal terms with Wieffer, which is bound to reduce the price tag a bit.