Guardiola ‘promises’ €60m Barcelona target ‘undisputed starting’ spot in Man City midfield

Pep Guardiola has shown Barcelona ‘no mercy’ having ‘promised’ Hansi Flick’s top midfield target that he will be an ‘undisputed starter’ if he joins Manchester City this summer.
Flick is looking to put his own stamp on the Barcelona squad having replaced Xavi as manager at the Nou Camp, but is faced with the challenge of doing so with limited funds.
Reports suggest there are very few untransferable players in the current squad, with Raphinha, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde among the high profile names they will accept reasonable bids for.
Kimmich ‘practically impossible’ for Barcelona
The German coach has his heart set on bringing Joshua Kimmich to Barcelona this summer having won the treble at Bayern Munich with the 29-year-old as a stalwart in the side.
But reports in Spain claim ‘conversations have not progressed as planned’ between Barcelona and Kimmich, who has ‘become a practically impossible goal’.
Their first offer was ‘instantly rejected’ by Kimmich, who wants a ‘much higher salary’ than Barcelona are willing to pay, while Bayern Munich – despite reports suggesting they were previously open to his sale – ‘now refuse to open doors for him’.
That’s a bit of surprise given Kimmich has just a year left to run on his contract but new manager Vincent Kompany is hoping to persuade the Germany international to extend his stay.
If Kimmich does reject a new deal, Bayern will listen to offers, but nothing less than €60m, which again is beyond Barcelona’s means.
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‘Enormously seduced’ by City and Guardiola
But well within City’s, assuming they have any money left over after all the lawyer fees, and Barcelona are convinced they ‘can’t compete with Guardiola’.
The report claims City ‘intend to close’ a deal as soon as possible for Kimmich, whom Guardiola ‘has already spoken to’ in order to persaude him that the Etihad is the place for him.
Kimmich is ‘enormously seduced’ by playing for City and working under Guardiola once again, and the Spanish boss has ‘promised’ the Bayern star that he will be an ‘undisputed starter’ in his midfield alongside Rodri.