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Barcelona Want Arsenal Midfielder, According To Reports In Spain

By on October 23, 2013

Our old friends Barcelona are interested in signing Jack Wilshere as a long-term replacement for Xavi, according to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

The Spanish giants are not shy at raiding us having previously signed Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Alex Hleb, Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song in recent years, and now it seems they’d like to add Jack’s name to the list.

The report claims that Barca have been scouting Wilshere extensively for up to two years and have him down on a three-man short-list of names that they consider are realistic targets to replace the 33-year-old Xavi.

The other two players are Borussia Dortmund’s lkay Gundogan and Atletico Madrid’s Koke, so Jack’s certainly in some impressive company.

The good news is that Wilshere is the least attainable of the trio, as he’s only recently signed a new five-year deal and is in no way agitating for a move away from Arsenal. In fact, I really don’t see him going anywhere any time soon.

Gundogan has just 18 months left on his current contract at Dortmund and has hinted he wont be signing an extension as he wants to try his luck in another league, while Koke is also a relatively straight-forward deal as he has a £16m buy-out clause in his contract, so Barca know exactly what price they have to pay if they want to sign him.

The report claims the La Liga champions are considering making bids for their targets in January. If so, they will almost certainly get a short shrift from Arsene Wenger if they enquire about Wilshere. There is no way we’ll entertain any offers for him.

Gundogan is possibly the most realistic target due to his contract situation and Dortmund may feel it best to cash in now while they can still command a sizable fee, but as we’ve seen with Robert Lewandowski, the Germans aren’t afraid to lose a key player for nothing.

I suppose it’s flattering that Barcelona are constantly looking to the Emirates for new players, but we’re trying to build something special here ourselves and we no longer need their money, so I hope Arsene tells them where to go if they do come calling again.

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