Barcelona and Chelsea place interest to sign €12 million Serie A attacker | OneFootball

Barcelona will enter the summer transfer window with the intention of reinforcing the team to the best of their financial capabilities, in the hopes of properly contesting for all available trophies.

However, for that, the Catalans will need to sell players timely and on appropriate prices. The likes of Clement Lenglet, Ansu Fati, Eric Garcia, and Sergino Dest, among others, are heading towards the exit door, but will not generate too much transfer fee.

As such, bringing in reinforcements for a low cost becomes a huge burden for Barcelona, especially when the holding midfield role, the left-wing, and other areas of the pitch are desperately crying out loud for more players.

On the back of losing out Champions League semi-finalist money as well, it seems the club have identified at least one player they can pursue in the summer, who will not cost an awful lot of money.

Operation Dybala?

According to a report relayed by ESPN, Barcelona and Chelsea are among teams who have placed inquiries to sign AS Roma’s Paulo Dybala. They have collected preliminary information about the player and his release clause.

The 2022 World Cup winner has been at Roma since 2022, and has a very low release clause of €12 million in his contract that will be valid all through July, as per Fabrizio Romano.

Battle-hardened soldier. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Should a Serie A club trigger the clause, the decision will fall to Roma, who want to make sure not to sell the player to one of their direct rivals.

However, they have given Dybala the right to make the decision should a club from abroad pay that €12 million.

With his contract expiring in 2025, and the player already 30, this could be his last chance at a big-money move to another elite UCL-contending team since leaving Juventus, and he could very well pounce on it.

Barça Universal’s take

Barcelona’s current squad is awfully young, with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal and 17-year-old Pau Cubarsi starting week-in, week-out for them. Not to forget 21-year-old Pedri and 19-year-old Gavi running midfield.

Having someone of the stature, experience, and quality of Paulo Dybala would be an excellent move for them, especially for the price.

It also gives them a unique creative profile in attack, one who can play as a false 9, right-wing, and like he has on a few occasions for Argentina, even left-wing.

That said, his transfer should not be even close to a priority for them. Should Barça be able to wrap up moves for other priority positions, and have cash left to spare, then, and only then does pursuing Dybala makes sense.