Barcelona to ‘offer players’ in part-exchange for Premier League midfielder

Barcelona have been tipped to offer players to Everton as they seek to reduce the cost of a potential deal for central midfielder Amadou Onana.

Onana has been a shining light in a struggling Everton team since arriving from Lille in the summer of 2022. The Senegal international, still just 22 years of age, has been linked to a number of clubs, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, in addition to Barca.

According to SPORT, an asking price of £51.5m is unsurprisingly a problem for the Catalans. Even £34m in the event that Everton are relegated from the Premier League would still be steep to afford.

The priority for Everton, docked points by the Premier League and charged a second time for breaching financial rules, is cash. But Barcelona are expected to offer players in part-exchange.

But it won’t be major stars or those believed to be important to the project at Camp Nou, rather those that have come to the end of their road as Barca players but still hold value – the likes of Clement Lenglet, Sergino Dest, Ansu Fati and Fermin Lopez.

Lenglet, Dest and Fati are out on loan this season with Aston Villa, PSV Eindhoven and Brighton respectively. Meanwhile, Lopez is said to have every intention of staying at Barcelona.

Earlier this week, a report from Spain suggested that Onana is one of four names on a Barcelona shortlist to strengthen in midfield. Bayern Munich star Joshua Kimmich, who is increasingly linked with a move out of the Allianz Arena, Girona’s Aleix Garcia and Feyenoord’s Mats Wieffer are the others said to be on the radar of Deco and Barca’s sporting department.