Barcelona want to use ‘Roque strategy’ to sign Man City midfielder | OneFootball

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For the last few years, one of the players that FC Barcelona have been desiring to see play in their colors is the Portuguese midfielder and winger, Bernardo Silva.

The current Manchester City talisman has been playing at the highest level for several years now, and the Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, has him as his most desired player ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window.

The Portuguese international has already been linked with the Catalans, with Xavi even holding a talk with him to convince him to join the Blaugranes in the past. However, the economic difficulties of Barcelona are well known, and have been the main reason why the Catalans have been unable to get the City player.

However, one thing that goes in the Blaugranes’ favor is that his current contract with Manchester City, that goes till 2026, has a relatively affordable release clause of €58 million. While this release clause is nowhere high considering the current football market, it is still a sum that Barcelona will find impossible to pay in a go.

Thus, according to a recent report from Spanish media outlet SPORT, Barcelona President Joan Laporta is looking to adopt a strategy that the Catalan club followed to sign Vitor Roque last summer from Athletico Paranaense to acquire the services of Silva this time around.

The Catalans signed Roque after agreeing with Athletico Paranaense a fee that can rise up to €61 million, but only €30 million of this amount was fixed, and that too was to be paid in deferred installments. Thus, the Catalans are paying €5 million every six months for the Brazilian starlet.

Barcelona will be looking to arrive at a similar agreement for City for Silva this summer. However, such an operation will be full of difficulties for the Catalans. For instance, they will first have to ensure they return to the 1:1 rule for financial fair play before being able to sign the Portuguese international.

Furthermore, the competition from the other clubs for the midfielder will also make his pursuit quite difficult for Barcelona. Clubs as big as Paris Saint Germain are keenly interested in the player, and as Barcelona will not be able to compete with the French team on a financial front, they will have to convince Manchester City and Silva with other arguments to sign their dream midfielder.