Barcelona hold initial talks for €20 million-rated defender following Hansi Flick request

As reported earlier today, Barcelona have entered the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah.

The German international has entered the last year of contract with Die Werkself and has refused to sign an extension and as such will be on his way out this summer.

It has been reported that Tah, who is also being courted by Bayern Munich, could be available for a fee of around €20 million this summer.

First talks have already taken place

Building on that, Sky Sport Germany’s Florian Plettenberg now reports that the initial round of talks between Barcelona and Jonathan Tah have already taken place.

The Blaugrana have a plethora of options in the centre-back department but have been struck by injuries to both Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen, with the duo expected to miss a significant chunk of the first half of the season.

Furthermore, Eric Garcia is said to be on his way out with a move to Girona on the cards for the Spanish Olympics gold medalist.

As such, a move for Tah is gaining momentum at Barcelona with the first talks already held.

In fact, Gerard Romero reports that Hansi Flick himself has asked his agent, Pini Zahavi, to explore the possibility of a transfer.

However, considering the Catalans’ troubles registering their current marquee signing Dani Olmo, as well as their pursuit of a new left-winger being a priority, quite how they will manage to pull off a deal for Tah remains to be seen.

As mentioned earlier, Bayern Munich have been linked with a move for Tah all through the summer and a move to Allianz Arena is still not 100% dead.

So, it will certainly be interesting to see whether Barcelona are indeed pushing to sign Tah and if so how the club can manage to pull off the operation.