Barcelona are reportedly plotting a move to sign Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Man Utd midfielder Ander Herrera on free transfers next summer.
Both players will see their respective contracts expire at the end of the season, and as of yet there hasn’t been any formal suggestion that progress is being made in negotiations.
According to Don Balon, as re-reported by The Daily Star, the Catalan giants want to take advantage of the situation by snapping up the pair to add quality and depth to their squad moving forward at zero cost in terms of transfer fees.
The report does suggest that it could be mixed results for Barcelona though, as although Ozil is said to be not intending on signing an extension with Arsenal, while Herrera is likely to ink new terms.
However, what isn’t mentioned by Don Balon is that Man Utd have an option to trigger a one-year extension, as per ESPN, and so the situation isn’t entirely in Barca’s hands in terms of prising him away with only a matter of months left on his contract.
In their favour though, foreign clubs are able discuss a potential pre-contract agreement from January onwards, as noted by Don Balon, thus weakening the position of both Arsenal and United and making the risk of losing their key stars a bigger issue.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde knows Herrera well after working with him at former club Athletic Bilbao, and it isn’t the first time that the tactician has tried to secure a reunion as it’s noted that the La Liga outfit tried to sign both the Spaniard and Ozil this past summer.
Clearly that failed to materialise, but now Valverde wants to prioritise the signing of Herrera and add Ozil to his squad in order to switch to his preferred 4-2-3-1, and it sounds as though Barca will try to open discussions in the new year to complete a raid on the two Premier League giants for key individuals.