Barcelona are desperate to bring in Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan this summer, and are making every effort to do so.
The 32-year-old German has been at the top of his game this season, leading City to an historic treble for just the second time in English football history, after Manchester United in 1999.
However as a free agent this summer, there is plenty of speculation about his future. Barcelona are said to be interested, and have seemingly improved their offer, according to The Athletic.
As per their report there are two key factors in the deal. City are not keen to offer him a long-term deal, given his advancing years, but manager Pep Guardiola does want to keep him. They have put an offer on the table to keep him at the Etihad.
Meanwhile Barcelona have been keen to bring him to the club for some time, and have tried to outdo Manchester City by offering him a three-year deal. Now seemingly they have improved their offer, in a bid to ensure they get their man.
Barcelona’s key issue is the fact that they cannot yet guarantee Gundogan that they will be able to register his contract, just as happened with Lionel Messi. Without that guarantee, they are asking for a leap of faith from Gundogan that he might not be willing to take.
Gundogan would provide a jump in quality this summer to a Barcelona midfield that has just lost its leader in Sergio Busquets. Without him, Frenkie de Jong is now the most experienced, alongside Franck Kessie, but Gundogan would slot alongside Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Robert Lewandowski and Sergi Roberto as experienced operators that have won in Europe previously.
The Barça legend believes he needs more players who can feed Robert Lewandowski and get assists.
Lo Celso has spent the last 18 months on loan at Villarreal and progressed well under Unai Emery, reaching the Champions League semi-finals with the club in 2021/22.
Xavi is interested in the Argentine, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
The Spanish newspaper also claims that the manager likes Alex Baena, who has been on the books at Villarreal since joining their youth setup in 2011, but the 21-year-old has a €60million release clause and the Yellow Submarine want to keep him.