Barcelona have repeatedly contacted Manchester City this summer to discuss a transfer for Sergi Roberto, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The La Liga giants are desperate to strike a deal to avoid the Spaniard leaving for free next year. He will enter the final year of his current contract on Thursday, having last extended his terms in 2018.
Barcelona have approached clubs in Italy and England to sound out their interest in taking the 29-year-old, including Inter Milan. They also presented the 10-cap international with a new deal to protect his market value, but have since rescinded it.
Roberto’s new contract would have been a one-year extension at the Camp Nou, to extend his Barcelona association that began in 2006. He has never worn the jersey of another club since joining La Masia from Tarragona, but could next season.
Barcelona have repeatedly contacted Manchester City to offer Pep Guardiola the chance to sign Roberto. But the Citizens have not responded well to the deal, while Inter continue their assessments, hence the short-lived new contract.
Inter Milan are monitoring developments and have so far only gathered information on the full-back. Barcelona would request €25m (£21.5m) to sell Roberto, per ESPN, who is one game shy of 200 La Liga appearances.
Meanwhile, Sport have previously claimed Guardiola believes Roberto would be a very useful signing for Manchester City. The Spanish publication have also noted that the Etihad Stadium is the most likely destination for the defender this summer.
Manchester City can sign ‘one of the best’ in Roberto
Manchester City exploring a deal to sign Roberto could see Guardiola beat Inter Milan to a highly-admired full-back. The Spaniard was mostly overlooked by Ronald Koeman last term, but has his supporters at the Camp Nou.
Roberto only started nine of his 15 La Liga outings and two of three in the Champions League last season. Yet corners of Catalunya remember him fondly for his heroics against Paris Saint-Germain in their famous comeback in 2017.
The Barcelona product scored the winning goal in the 95th minute, having trailed 5-3 on aggregate only seven minutes before. Lionel Messi continued to praise Roberto for the next year, telling RAC1 via Marca of the now Manchester City-linked player:
“You have become one of the best full-backs in the world. The moment you made us live was amazing, because of how it came to be, it was impressive.”
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