Barcelona target ex-Chelsea star Oscar after Ansu injury

Robin Bairner

• 21 Jan 2022 12:41 GMT
• 3 min read

Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar has said that Barcelona are chasing him with the idea of signing him in January.

The 30-year-old attacking midfielder has spent the past five years playing with Shanghai Port in the Chinese Super League, having made his name in England with Chelsea.

Oscar has been happy to drop off the footballing radar in return for the riches on offer to him in China, but with a major clampdown on foreign stars, he could be heading back to Europe in the near future.

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Indeed, he says that talks have been held with Barcelona of a potential switch to Barcelona, although he says that there is no guarantee that a deal will be done.

Speaking to TNT Brasil, he explained: “From what I’m told, talks with Barcelona are not over yet. The problem is that they’re struggling to register signings... there has to be some departures from Barca.”

A difficult deal to complete

Indeed, registering players has been a headache for Barca all season because of their financial difficulties. At the beginning of the campaign, they were left red faced as they struggled to have Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia available for the opening match of the season, then faced similar problems with Ferran Torres earlier in January.

Barcelona, though, are still doing their utmost to clear space in their squad for new additions – and with Ansu Fati’s injury on Thursday, that will likely only strengthen their desire to add reinforcements.

Ousmane Dembele has been told that he has no future at the club, and as the Frenchman commands a substantial wage, if he were to depart, it would potentially open the door for a player like Oscar to join.

Barcelona, though, have already cut away much of the fat that has surrounded their squad and further cuts in costs will prove difficult, particularly as they seek to improve the contracts of young players such as Gavi.

They have proven in the past they are not afraid to look to China as a source of players. Paulinho, for example, briefly turned out for them in 2017 after arriving from the CSL, while Cedric Bakambu was briefly linked to them at the end of 2021.

Oscar moving to Barcelona, then, is still a long way off, even if talks are being held