Football Espana
·28 December 2023
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Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·28 December 2023
Getafe President Angel Torres has openly acknowledged that Los Azulones are interested in signing Barcelona veteran Oriol Romeu. The 32-year-old started off well on his return to Barcelona from Girona, but since appears to have lost the faith of Xavi Hernandez.
With Carles Alena, Nemanja Maksimovic and Luis Milla Getafe’s only fit central midfielders currently, coach Jose Bordalas has mentioned that he would like to reinforce that area of the pitch, as they move towards the edge of the European race. In recent days, ex-Barcelona midfielder Ilaix Moriba, who has been unused by RB Leipzig, has been linked with them.
“He is one of the players who has already been offered to us. The coach knows him. If we reach an agreement, surely. First we are going to reinforce the midfield and if we can sign someone on the wing to complete the squad. Nothing more. We’re not going to go crazy either,” MD reported Torres’ response.
Asked about Romeu, Torres was equally transparent.
“In football nothing is impossible. I have retold many times the story about Messi. I had the chance to sign him when he was 16. In football there are difficult things but not impossible. We are working on four or five very advanced things. We are waiting for tomorrow or the day after the gaffer comes and agrees. One or two reinforcements will come as long as the gaffer agrees.”
Romeu was linked with a return to Girona a couple of months ago, but from the club, the line has been that they have confidence in Romeu and will maintain faith in him until at least the end of the season.
However the Blaugrana have declared themselves that they want to strengthen the middle of the pitch, and Romeu may well be allowed to leave if they find a suitable replacement. He was brought in as a short-term solution to cover the pivot position, and if they cannot bring in a replacement, Xavi Hernandez will no doubt be keen to keep him. Ilkay Gundogan, Fermin Lopez, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri are their only other options, with the latter consistently suffering from injury issues.