Barcelona will have to shell out €50 million to sign 29-year-old Serie A midfielder

Barcelona have been in the market looking for a player that can take over Sergio Busquets’ throne as the holding midfielder of the club.

Their experiment with Oriol Romeu ended up failing, with the €3.5 million midfielder not being able to maintain his good form from the start of the season through the rest of the campaign.

Andreas Christensen has filled in the gap since then, and rather impressively so, too, but he is far from a long-term solution for Barcelona in that position.

The goal is to raise some money and sign a player that can fit in the no. 6 role in the mid to long-term.

Among the names that have been discussed, there is also a certain Serie A midfielder, whose agents have already spoken to sporting director Deco about a potential move.

Is it Lobotka season?

The midfielder in question is Napoli’s Stanislav Lobotka. The Slovak has been playing his trade in Italy since 2020 after his €20 million move from Celta Vigo.

Barcelona have him on their radar, but according to a report from SPORT, will have to table an offer worth no less than €50 million.

Following the 3-1 loss against Barcelona in the Champions League, his agent said, “We talked about it with Deco, Barcelona would sign him, but a lot of things would have to happen first,”

Xavi also claimed that he sees himself in Lobotka in terms of style as a playmaker who does not lost possession a lot.

Dodges the Barcelona question

Following the international break, Lobotka was asked about Xavi’s comments about him while still at the airport.

“Of course, it is very pleasing to have my childhood idol, Xavi, praising my style of playing,” he replied.

“It gives me energy to keep going and continue working to improve myself. We will see what happens in the summer.”

He did dodge the question about playing for Barcelona, though, saying, “I am only thinking about Napoli, as we have a very important game to play on Saturday.”