Barcelona won’t stand in the way of Miralem Pjanic should the reported Tottenham Hotspur target want to leave the La Liga giants this summer, director Mateu Alemany has told Football Espana.
Considering Barca were in a dire financial situation last summer their decision to pay £55 million for a 30-year-old midfielder – before handing him £120,000 a week – looked strange at the time.
12 months on, you can replace the word ‘strange’ with one of a number of adjectives. ‘Baffling’, for example. How about ‘reckless’ or ‘foolish’ or ‘bewildering’?
This is no slight on Pjanic, of course.
The Bosnian is one of the most decorated midfielders of the past few seasons, lifting eight trophies while scoring a mind-bending 21 free-kicks throughout his career.
The midfield maestro has already been linked with a return to Juventus while, according to Spanish publication Sport, Nuno Espirito Santo is keen to work with Pjanic at Tottenham, perhaps earmarking the one-time Roma playmaker to take on the ‘Ruben Neves role’ in his new-look Spurs side.
Miralem Pjanic could join Tottenham for free
Barcelona could even let Pjanic go for nothing, allowing the £55 million man to leave on a free transfer just 12 months into a four-year contract.
And while Alemany was reluctant to confirm whether the rumour was true, he did admit Pjanic and injury-prone centre-back Samuel Umtiti would be allowed to head for the exit.
“Both have very important careers but didn’t get much playing time last season,” Alemany said during the presentation of Barcelona’s new Dutch superstar Memphis Depay.
“We know the situation and are evaluating the possibility of finding (Pjanic and Umtiti) another club. They are the first to be interested in finding a team where they can play more regularly.”
You’d think Pjanic would find game time easier to come by at Tottenham. A player with his vision and class looks the perfect foil for the tough-tackling tenacity of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the middle of the park.
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