Paulinho to join if Barcelona fail to land Verratti

Posted Wednesday, June 28, 2017 by Marca.com

The first option to reinforce Barcelona's midfield is Marco Verratti but if Paris Saint-Germain continued to insist he is not for sale and refuse to negotiate with the Blaugrana, then attention will turn to Paulinho.

Verratti is doing his best to force the issue and his agent has already conveyed his client's desire to leave to the people at the very top echelons of the French club.

As of this moment however, the Parisien's are refusing to budge and so the player will need to take things a step further and not show up for pre-season in order to be in with a chance of seeing his employers bend to his will.

Meanwhile, and in anticipation of the recruitment of Verratti proving impossible, the club has opened other avenues.

One of them is Paulinho who is currently in China at Guangzhou.

Barcelona haven't denied contact with the player whose price is around 40 million euros, a figure significantly lower than for the Italian.

Paulinho is a different type of player and his profile is more similar to that of Sergio Busquets, although he could play in both positions if required.

What is clear is that in no case would Barcelona sign both players.

It's anticipated that one or the other will come, although it's true that the club are also looking at other midfield options.

The choice could well condition the signing of Hector Bellerin who Arsenal do not want to sell but who could end up leaving for a lot of money.

URGENCY REQUIRED ON DEULOFEU

Barcelona will also have to decide in the next few hours if they will execute the purchase option for Gerard Deulofeu.

Currently an Everton player, though he has been on loan at Milan, it would cost the Catalans 12 million euros to repatriate their former academy starlet.

RAC-1 assured on Monday that the deal will happen, although nobody from the club wanted to confirm it.

The deadline is Friday.