Barcelona transfer news: First signing announced, Ansu frozen out, Nike accusations

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 6 May 2024 12:41 BST
• 4 min read

Barcelona are set for a busy summer in the transfer market and according to reports in Spain, the Camp Nou side are close to finalising their first deal of the summer.

Sport reports that a deal has been struck that will see midfielder Guido Rodriguez of Real Betis become Barca’s first signing of the season.

Rodriguez will come into the squad to replace Oriol Romeu, whose season has been a flop since he arrived at the club last summer.

READ MORE: Latest Barcelona transfer news

It is stated: “The agreement has been in place for months, specifically since the last international break.

“It was Deco who advanced the deal, which was already in the works from last summer because the Argentine was one of Xavi’s options then but, in the end, there was no agreement.”

READ MORE: Barcelona's 10 best transfers of all time

Kimmich deal ‘still very much alive’

Sport adds that Barcelona are still interested in signing Joshua Kimmich from Bayern Munich and that a move for Guido will not block such a deal.

Indeed, the publication stresses that the prospect of the FCB star joining the Catalan side is “still very much alive”.

While Kimmich, who is under contract at the Allianz Arena until 2025, may wish to move to Camp Nou, quite how Barcelona fund a deal for a mainstay of the Champions League semi-finalists is questionable.

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Working to sign three or four starters

Barcelona will seek to sign three or four starting players over the summer months, Mundo Deportivo states.

Xavi wants to strengthen the midfield as his top priority and wants a new left winger. Dani Olmo of RB Leipzig and Athletic Club’s Nico Williams are seen as options out wide.

Depending on how the club fares financially, a player in the mould of Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva is a possibility.

The coach also wants a “killer” in attack, though this depends on the future of Robert Lewandowski.

Ansu Fati latest

It appears that Ansu Fati will be heading back to Barcelona in the summer, with the on-loan winger receiving increasingly cold treatment at Brighton.

Having been dubbed the heir to Lionel Messi at the Blaugrana, injury initially blocked his progress but now he is struggling to receive game time at the ailing Premier League outfit.

He has not featured in a minute of action in any of the Seagulls’ last three matches.

Sport reports that Fati is, therefore, destined to return to his parent club when another loan at Brighton seemed a distinct possibility before.

Current ETV

Ansu Fati

AM (RL), F (C)

Brighton

Ansu Fati

AM (RL), F (C)

Brighton

€18.6M

ETV Range

€13.9M - €23.2M

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Nike’s Lewandowski embarrassment

One of the issues that Barcelona have had with Nike has been the American company’s inability to source enough ‘W’s for the name set on their jerseys.

Sport claims that at some point, the sportswear firm ran out and resorted to using the letter ‘M’ upside down to sell Robert Lewandowski tops.