Liverpool contact agent of Barcelona
midfielder, would cost €20m
Tottenham and Liverpool are a step ahead of other interested Premier League clubs when it comes to making a move for Barcelona's young Sergi Roberto. Mundo Deportivo said on Saturday that a move was starting to look more possible for the midfielder because he simply isn't getting enough playing time.
It's a perplexing situation, according to them, and they say the player's agents are confused as to what's going on and why he's not getting appearances. He's had less than 20 minutes worth of substitute appearances all season and hasn't got on the pitch since September.
Roberto has been very highly rated for several years and although the club didn't want to lose Thiago to Bayern Munich it was seen as a move which would give Roberto a better chance of being involved, but it hasn't worked out that. Tata Martino just doesn't fancy him at the moment and isn't just giving him minutes for the sake of keeping everyone happy, meaning that his future has moved more clearly into focus.
Mundo say that Chelsea made a move in the past but that the midfielder refused the lucrative offer because he wanted to make it at Barcelona. They now say that with the player's Barcelona future looking less certain, clubs have contacted his agent Josep Maria Orobitg. Those clubs are Tottenham, Liverpool and AC Milan.
Roberto has a buyout clause of €20m and his contract runs until June 2015 but Mundo say that because he isn't considered worthy of playing time by Martino he could go, with Manchester City also stated as another option because of Txiki Begiristain rating him highly.
A year ago it would have been unthinkable that Barcelona would get to the stage where an exit looked on the cards for Roberto, but according to Mundo that's where things now stand.
The player himself appeared to respond to today's stories in Spain by tweeting a moody looking picture of himself with a message about continuing to work hard and picking himself up.
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