Mourinho's first PSG signing spells bad news for Liverpool & Barcelona

Carlo Garganese

• 10 May 2023 13:30 BST
• 3 min read

Jose Mourinho’s projected first signing for PSG spells bad news for both Liverpool and Barcelona.

According to FootMercato’s Santi Aouna, Mourinho is in a head-to-head battle with Thiago Motta to be appointed as PSG manager next season.

If Mourinho gets the nod, he will likely bring Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat with him to Paris.

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Mourinho has already spoken to Amrabat’s agent about his plans to make the Moroccan a key player in the PSG midfield.

This could spell bad new for both Barcelona and Liverpool, both of whom are big fans of the player and could try to sign him again in the summer.

Amrabat will certainly leave Fiorentina at the end of the season, with the Viola promising him a sale if a bid of €40 million is received.

Fiorentina rejected a host of approaches in the January transfer window, including from Liverpool and Barca, for their star man.

Indeed, they rejected a Deadline Day bid from Barca for Amrabat, who failed to turn up to training that day in an attempt to push through a move.

Barca proposed a loan deal with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer for around €37m.

Fiorentina rejected that offer and were unhappy that clubs made a move so close to the transfer window ending, in the process unsettling the player.

They did promise Amrabat, though, that he would be allowed to leave in the summer.

His preference remains Barcelona, but it is believed that PSG will be able to offer more money to club and player.

Amrabat stars at 2022 World Cup

Amrabat was arguably the best midfielder at World Cup 2022, playing a crucial role for a Morocco team that stunned everyone in reaching the semi-finals

The 26-year-old produced a series of dominant performances in the centre of midfield as Morocco knocked out Belgium from the group stages, and then Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Morocco were finally beaten in the semis by France, before losing the third and fourth place playoff to Croatia.

Amrabat’s contract at Fiorentina expires in the summer of 2024. He joined from Hellas Verona in 2020 and is now considered one of the best central midfielders in Italy.

His performances this season have helped Fiorentina into the final of the Coppa Italia and the semi finals of the Europa Conference League.