Despite some surprise links with West Ham midfielder Pablo Fornals, Fabrizio Romano has spoken exclusively to CaughtOffside about Barcelona’s priority being to get Vitor Roque in.
The journalist is not aware of anything concrete happening between Barca and Fornals at the moment, even if there have been other reports stating that the Hammers ace could be seen as an emergency option to move to the Nou Camp as cover for the injured Gavi.
Still, it seems Barcelona have not yet made a decision on a midfielder signing, and it would certainly be a bit strange if they went for someone like Fornals, who is not currently playing regularly for West Ham, even if he was a key player for them in the past.
Barca also have issues with Financial Fair Play to think about, according to Romano, and it seems their current focus is on ensuring that they can bring Roque in without breaching any regulations on that front.
“Pablo Fornals – There have been some surprise links between Pablo Fornals and Barcelona, with the West Ham midfielder supposedly mentioned as an option to cover for the injured Gavi,” Romano said to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column.
“Still, I’m not aware of concrete talks for Fornals so far, there’s still nothing decided in terms of new midfielder; as Deco said, the situation is still very quiet. Barcelona’s priority is to use funds on Financial Fair Play to register Vitor Roque.”
West Ham need reinforcement in the midfield.
Make due with youngsters from Barca Athletic and Barca U19 rather than players who don’t see play for other teams: Casado, Garrido, Bernal, Juan Hernandez.