Barcelona to cool down pursuit of Man City heavyweight following Hansi Flick arrival

Barcelona are set to undergo a sea of changes over the next few weeks as Hansi Flick is all set to take over as first-team manager, replacing Xavi Hernandez.

With the German tactician set to take over duties next week, he is already involved in the club’s transfer strategies for the summer window.

Flick agrees with Deco that Barcelona need a top pivot and has made Joshua Kimmich the top priority while also greenlighting the arrival of Guido Rodriguez.

Bernardo Silva no longer on the agenda

Now, SPORT reports that with Flick set to take over from Xavi, Barcelona will also cool down their pursuit of Manchester City superstar Bernardo Silva.

The Portuguese international was one of Xavi’s major requests for the summer after the Blaugrana missed out on his signing last year.

No longer a priority. (Photo by DARREN STAPLES/AFP via Getty Images)

Silva, for his part, was also understood to be eager to join Barça and was willing to reduce his salary to make it happen.

The move was always set to be difficult though considering that the Catalans would have had to shell out €58 million, his release clause amount, to pry him away from Manchester City.

However, with Xavi set to depart and Flick taking over, the plans will change as Barcelona will look to prioritise the signing of other players.

Other priorities

As mentioned earlier, a new top pivot is seen as the absolute priority, while Flick and Deco also see the signing of a new left-winger as a necessity.

Meanwhile, the manager also wants to reinforce the full-back positions where there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situations of both Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde.