Manchester City willing to submit around €60m offer to sign Barcelona midfield star – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona continue to build ahead of the 2025/26 season. They have already played a pre-season friendly game against Vissel Kobe in Japan, which they won 3-1, thanks to goals from Eric Garcia, Roony Bardghji, and Pedro Fernandez.

Hansi Flick’s squad has a lot of talented youngsters, most of whom have come through the academy. However, with each passing season, a sense of a logjam is developing in the first team. As a result, some sales may be necessary, and there is no shortage of suitors for the talented players.

Now, as per Fichajes, Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has set his sights on Barcelona midfield star Fermin Lopez. The Citizens are reportedly willing to submit an offer of around €60 million to sign the talented Spanish midfielder.

A different breed of La Masia quality

Fermin Lopez has been a star in the making for Barcelona. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Fermin represents a very different breed of midfielder to have come through La Masia in recent seasons. Highly technical, the 22-year-old is a typical attacking midfielder who loves making late runs into the box. In FM parlance, he thrives as a shadow striker.

Since breaking into the first-team picture a couple of pre-seasons ago under Xavi Hernandez, Fermin has had two very important campaigns under two different managers. As the 2024/25 season went on under Hansi Flick, he became more and more important.

The German coach surely continues to have Fermin as an important part of his plans, but at Barcelona, regular starts might be hard to come by. That said, Manchester City is no easy place to break into the first team either, making this a sideways move for the Spaniard.

No similar profile at Barcelona

The Barcelona squad doesn’t have a profile like Fermin. He adds something very different to the existing options in the squad. Even with his direct rival for the #10 spot, Dani Olmo, the two Spaniards are as different as two players can be.

Ideally, Barcelona should not be selling Fermin Lopez. They should not be looking at offers, and this Manchester City interest should lead to no fruition. However, the Catalan club’s financial situation makes things interesting, and let’s wait and see what Deco & Laporta do if an offer indeed comes in.