Barcelona tried to hijack Bayern Munich’s deal to sign 25-year-old midfield enforcer | OneFootball

Bayern Munich are all set to sign Konrad Laimer in the summer on a free transfer when his contract with RB Leipzig expires. The 25-year-old is understood to have signed a contract with the German champions and will join them at the end of the season, despite interest from Barcelona.

Indeed, according to BILD (h/t SPORT), La Liga leaders Barcelona made a late swoop to try and hijack the deal and sign Laimer for themselves when he would become a free agent in the summer.

It is no secret that Barça are in the market for midfield reinforcements amid doubts over the future of Sergio Busquets as well as Franck Kessie. Given their financial situation, the Catalans are scouring the free-agent pool to bolster their squad in the summer.

To that end, Xavi Hernandez’s side have been linked with the likes of N’Golo Kante, Youri Tielemans and Jorginho, among several others. And it seems like Laimer too emerged as a possible target for the Blaugrana recently.

As per the report, Barcelona tried to stop the Austrian midfield enforcer’s move to Bayern Munich by making direct contact with his representatives earlier this month.

However, there was no chance of the move happening as Laimer had already agreed on a move to the Allianz Arena.

Bayern Munich had been working on his capture for a long time now and have now been successful in signing him on a pre-contract, with an official announcement the only thing pending as per German media.

So, Barcelona’s move for Laimer came way too late and there was no chance of them entering into the picture as Bayern already had everything tied with regard to the midfielder’s transfer.

Contacts have also been made with the aforementioned Chelsea duo of Kante and Jorginho. Ruben Neves of Wolves, whose contract expires in 2024, is also on the agenda even though Xavi and his staff do not see him as an ideal fit.