FC Barcelona Consider Signing $94 Million Pedri Replacement Amid Number 8’s Recurring Injury Woes: Reports

FC Barcelona are considering signing a German wonderkid as a replacement for star midfielder Pedri amid the Spain international’s frequent and harmful injury-induced absences, according to El Nacional.

The number ‘8’ previously hadn’t been seen in action for the Blaugrana since mid-February, when he hobbled off before half time during a thrilling 2-2 home draw in against Manchester United which was a Europa League playoff first leg.

As the 20-year-old recovered from a muscle knock, Xavi’s men went on to lose the return fixture against the Premier
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League giants and were also thrashed 4-1 on aggregate by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals ending hope of a domestic treble.

The 4-0 defeat in the second leg of that tie, which was Barca’s worst home loss in El Clasico for 60 years, started a streak of three scoreless games matched by a Camp Nou draw with Girona and another on the road at Getafe in La Liga.

The goal drought was broken by Ferran Torres in a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Sunday, but Barca have clearly missed the influence of Pedri who replaced Torres on 60 minutes to a huge ovation and finally returned after 11 games missed and 64 days out of action.

Pedri immediately made an impact on the action, and was complimented by his coach Xavi Hernandez post match who said he feels “calmer” when the Spain international or Frenkie de Jong are on the ball.

Though this might be so, however, El Nacional reports that the frequency of Pedri’s absences – he has been unavailable for 44 games in total since his first hamstring injury in September 2021 – is causing “frustration and despair” at Barca where president Joan Laporta is considering signing a stand-in.

This would be German “wunderkind” Florian Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen, whose purchase Barca negotiated with the player’s father in early March according to SPORT.

The Catalan daily newspaper reported that Wirtz had been “very much seduced” by Barca, but his rumored €70 million ($77 million) price tag was an obstacle at the same time he has a contract running until 2027.

El Nacional puts the starting price in negotiations at a higher €85 million ($94 million), and there are also doubts about Wirtz because of a cruciate ligament injury which kept him on the bench for most of 2022.

In any event, even if cash-strapped Barca were to raise the funds, they would be better off going for the finished article in Bernardo Silva and waiting for Wirtz’s value to drop when his terms with Leverkusen near expiry.

Silva was on Xavi’s shopping list last summer, but a failure to sell Frenkie de Jong meant the Portuguese stayed at the Etihad for at least another term.