FC Barcelona Reach Agreement With New Midfielder: Reports

FC Barcelona have reportedly reached an agreement with Oriol Romeu and are in advanced negotiations with his club Girona to buy the player according to SPORT.

The departure of Sergio Busquets, who will join Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, has left a huge pivot-sized hole in the first team squad which manager Xavi Hernandez has struggled to fill.

There has been interest in the likes of Joshua Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi, who are Xavi’s number one choices, but their high price tags exceeding €60 million ($66 million) and Barca’s financial predicament have pushed Barca to look at lower-cost options.

“We need to strengthen [at the base] of the midfield but we are in a tricky situation [financially],” Xavi confessed at the launch of his soccer school last week.

“We don’t have the privilege of being able to sign who we want, so we have to adapt.”

This is where Romeu comes in, with SPORT reporting on Wednesday that Barca have already agreed everything with the 32-year-old who originally joined La Masia from Espanyol in 2004.

Barca are also in advanced negotiations with his club according to the daily newspaper, but the final fee paid for the veteran could be a sticking point.

Romeu has a release clause hovering around €8 million ($8.7m), but ESPN reported that Barca don’t plan to pay such an amount, which will force them to try and negotiate a lower fee or perhaps even include their own players in a potential part exchange deal.

In any event, SPORT expects Barca to close the deal in the “next few hours” with the club hoping that Romeu can join the preseason tour to the United States and become familiar with his new locker room plus the Barca style of play.

At least one of those facets shouldn’t be alien to Romeu considering he spent four years in La Masia and graduated from the famed youth academy in 2008.

Because of Busquets’ presence in a talent-packed Pep Guardiola outfit, however, Romeu made just two appearances in the first team before moving on.

Romeu was sold to Chelsea in 2011 and eventually found his feet in England with a seven-year stint at Southampton where he made 217 Premier
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League appearances from 2015 to 2022 before heading home to Catalonia.

Romeu enjoyed an impressive season with Girona last term in their return to La Liga, with his displays, including a memorable 4-2 victory over Real Madrid in late April, clearly catching the eye of Xavi and his staff.

Signing Romeu on the cheap is a wise move for Barca, who might be able to get a good couple of seasons out of him before making a fresh assault for someone like Zubimendi if their financial lot has improved by then.

Upon arrival, Romeu would join fellow 32-year-old Ilkay Gundogan as Barca’s second signing in midfield this summer after the former Manchester City captain came on a free transfer just over a fortnight ago.