Bayer Leverkusen star 'dreams' of Barcelona transfer | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen left-back Alejandro Grimaldo admitted once again that he still "dreams" of returning to his boyhood club Barcelona, while distancing himself from any possible move to Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid.

Grimaldo joined Barcelona's academy as a 12-year-old and spent almost a decade painstakingly making his way through the various youth teams before he was sold to Benfica in 2016 without making a single senior Barcelona appearance. The Valencia-born defender spent seven-and-a-half successful years in Portugual before Xabi Alonso snapped him up at Bayer Leverkusen.

The potent set-piece specialist replicated the remarkable attacking output which he had produced for Benfica in one of Europe's top five leagues, helping Leverkusen win the club's first-ever league title without suffering a single domestic defeat.

The defending German champions haven't quite returned to those same heights this term, but Grimaldo remains one of the best left-backs in the world. Yet, if the 29-year-old were to leave Leverkusen before his contract expires in 2027, there is one obvious destination he has in mind.

Alejandro Grimaldo was restricted to friendly appearances for Barcelona's first team / VI-Images/GettyImages

"I remember some interviews from when I was little in which I said my dream was to reach the Barca first team, and that has always remained my dream," Grimaldo told SPORT this week.

"I have it very clear in my mind, even the club knows it. I want to return to Spain in the short and medium term, and I'd like to experience being in Spain because, after all, it's my country. It's where I want to play and enjoy this experience, and it's one of my goals."

Leverkusen's boss Xabi Alonso has been heavily tipped to take over Real Madrid in the summer, with some suggesting that he may bring Grimaldo with him. The player himself wasn't so enamoured with that hypothetical scenario.

"I don't know what Xabi will do," he said. "It's a decision that concerns him alone. As for me, I grew up at La Masia [Barcelona's academy]; it's the club where I grew as a player and as a person, and it's the club I dreamed of playing for since I was a child."

When it was put to Grimaldo whether his clear devotion for Barcelona would rule him out of joining Atletico Madrid as well as Real, he hit back: "It's something I don't want to get into either because football takes many turns and you never know what can happen.

"But it's clear, as I told you before, that I grew up at Barca and in the end, when you've been at La Masia for seven or eight years, you always carry that with you. That's what I can tell you right now."