Five players who could transfer to Barcelona this summer

Stuart Telford

• 18 Jul 2023 12:56 BST
• 4 min read

Barcelona have already signed Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez this summer, but they could be joined by more despite the club's financial dire straits.

Barca have been told by La Liga to reduce their debts by €200 million if they want to compete next season, but that hasn't stopped them from committing €40m to Vitor Roque's transfer, with the Brazilian prodigy set to arrive from Athletico Paransense in January.

Gundogan and Martinez were free transfers from Manchester City and Athletic Bilbao respectively, and Barca will have to lean on Bosmans and loan deals, or clever scouting, unless they cash in on a host of fringe players this summer.

READ: Araujo among 'seven or eight exits' at Barcelona this summer

But that doesn't mean the following five players should be ruled out. FootballTransfers takes a closer look…

Bernardo Silva

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 5, 2022

Bernardo Silva is valued at €76.8m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm and is under contract at Man City until 2025, but he could yet be reunited with Gundogan at the Camp Nou.

As revealed exclusively by FootballTransfers collaborator Steve Kay recently, Pep Guardiola would like to use Barca's interest in Bernardo as a bargaining chip to bring Frenkie de Jong to the Etihad, and the Dutchman's value could all but wipe out any transfer fee for Bernardo.

EXCLUSIVE: Man City pursue De Jong swap deal with Barcelona

Marc Jurado

Barca are also looking to bring former academy star Marc Jurado back to the club from Manchester United. The young right-back left La Masia for Old Trafford in 2020.

"Barca is working on the Marc Jurado option for the subsidiary," report Que T'hi Jugues of Cadena SER. "The Manchester United footballer, who came from La Masia, is negotiating a return to Barca Atletic. It would be an operation with reduced costs based on add-ons."

Joao Cancelo

A significantly more expensive full-back than Jurado, Joao Cancelo is rated at €49.8m by FootballTransfers, but a loan deal could be quite likely in his case, as happened with Bayern Munich in the second half of last season.

Pep Guardiola has made it clear he doesn't want the Portuguese in his squad, and that he would even have sent him to Manchester United last winter. Few takers could afford his fee, and another loan, to Barca, could be in the offing.

Neymar

— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) May 3, 2023

A headline-grabbing signing that might well be out of reach, Neymar has nonetheless emerged as a possibility according to large sections of the Spanish press after Lionel Messi's return from Paris Saint-Germain fell through.

Neymar remains the most expensive transfer of all time following his €222m move from Barca to PSG in 2017, but things have gone south for him in the French capital, with his relationship with Kylian Mbappe under strain. Another loan could suit all parties.

Vitor Roque

The aforementioned Roque's signature has already been secured, but there is an outside chance Barca could bring his transfer forward from January if they can raise enough funds this summer.

Franck Kessie, Clement Lenglet and Sergino Dest are among a lengthy list of transfer listed players, and selling deadwood is likely to be the quickest 'financial lever' Barca could activate.