Rumour Mongering: Barcelona to Sign Wijnaldum When Thiago Joins Liverpool

Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The press in Spain are setting up some dominoes that may never fall.

Barcelona may be in something of a mess with Lionel Messi pushing to leave the club, but potentially losing the best player in the history of the game isn’t taking up quite all of the space in the Spanish press these days.

There’s also room for rumours of incomings, with Sport today claiming a deal for Liverpool’s Gini Wijnaldum is all lined up—but only for after the Reds bring in his replacement, Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara.

The story, as seen in today’s print edition of Sport and since relayed to English audiences by SportsWitness, says the Catalan club believe that Wijnaldum, a favourite of new manager Ronald Koeman, will cost around €25M.

Meanwhile, or at least as the Spanish press would have it, all parties aren’t commenting on the possible transfer while refusing to rule it out completely, with both Wijnaldum’s agent and sources within Barcelona cited.

Everything, though, would seem to hinge on Thiago arriving at Anfield. And with Bayern’s Champions League campaign wrapping up a week ago and a supposed £27M asking price, the lack of movement there is puzzling.

Before Bayern’s final game, reports in Germany claimed personal terms were agreed and a deal would be done when their season ended. A week later and we still can’t even say for certain if Liverpool are considering a move.

All of which would seem to make any talk of Wijnaldum to Barcelona a case of speculation built on top of speculation—rumour mongers setting up a chain of dominoes where the first one that has to fall may not even exist.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com