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Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman demands Premier League raid for Liverpool and Man City aces
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman wants to sign two Premier League players this January.
Liverpool: Steve Nicol urges club to keep Gini Wijnaldum
Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has instructed Nou Camp chiefs to sanction a January spending spree for Premier League duo Georginio Wijnaldum and Eric Garcia. Barca were eager for both players in the summer, but were unable to move due to financial restrictions.
Wijnaldum and Garcia could both be sold this January after failing to secure moves away in the summer.
Both will be out of contract next summer, and were top targets for Koeman this summer.
The new Barca boss was eager to improve the side after taking over from Ernesto Valverde, and pinpointed the two as players he wanted to reinvent the side.
However, the Catalans were struggling financially due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and were unable to pay up for either.
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Barca were faced with having to sell players before they could bring anyone in, and moved quickly to offload Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid.
Nelson Semedo also departed for Wolves, with Ivan Rakitic heading to Sevilla. But regardless, they were unable to muster up the funds to make any significant investments.
Liverpool were unwilling to sell Wijnaldum, and were eager to enter into negotitiations over an extension to his current deal, with the midfielder willing to stay.
In Garcia’s case, however, the saga went right down to the wire, with City demanding £20million for the centre-back.
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Barca failed in a late bid worth £15.4m, only for Garcia to tell City chiefs he would not extend his contract and wanted to leave for the Nou Camp in January.
Now, however, Koeman has confirmed he wants to move for both in the January window.
He said: “Our interest for Wijnaldum is strong.
“I wanted to bring him here in the summer because he has the ability to make fantastic runs from midfield and turn up in the box at the right moments.
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“I am convinced he can really add something to the team.
“But the financial situation of Barcelona was known at his club.”
“There is a chance for sure that we are going to have another go for Garcia.
“But right now I cannot know how the finances of the club are in January, so I have to wait and see.”
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