Barcelona could lose out to Tottenham for World Cup star

Stuart Telford

• 18 Mar 2023 12:36 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona and Sofyan Amrabat want each other, but Tottenham Hotspur are ready to beat the Blaugrana to the Morocco World Cup star's signature.

Barca have long since tagged Amrabat as a potential replacement for club legend Sergio Busquets, whose contract at Camp Nou is up in the summer.

Xavi wants his former teammate to stay, but the chances of Barca being able to match the money on offer from Inter Miami and Al-Nassr appear to be slim to none.

READ: Barcelona target 'offered to play for free' after rejecting Man Utd and Chelsea

The Blaugrana had already scouted Amrabat before the Fiorentina midfielder starred for Morocco at the winter World Cup in Qatar, helping the Atlas Lions become the first African nation ever to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

And Amrabat was pictured attending Barcelona's 1-0 win over Getafe in January.

However then, as now, Barca didn’t have sufficient funds to complete any deal, and now Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly ready to swoop for a midfielder who is valued at €20 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

Tottenham 'above all'

"Sofyan Amrabat… has returned to his previous level, to the delight of [Fiorentina manager] Vincenzo Italiano," report CalcioMercato.

"Now the club are waiting for a summer transfer market in which Barcelona are still interested, but Premier League clubs, above all Tottenham, are ready to come forward again."

READ: Barcelona ready to active €250m super lever to kickstart summer transfers

Barca have been told to reduce their debt by €200m if they are to take part in La Liga next season, which could make even Amrabat prohibitively expensive for the current Spanish league leaders.

Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer from Manchester City is a more likely arrival for the Blaugrana, while Spurs have no such financial worries.

Tottenham would like more competition for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Rodrigo Bentancur, with Yves Bissouma having disappointed since his summer arrival from Brighton.

Antonio Conte's future as manager is unclear, although as the Italian revealed with England under-21 right-back Djed Spence, he isn't involved in every acquisition the club make anyway.