A swap deal could be on the cards
Rumours of a deal between FC Barcelona and Paris-Saint Germain picked up pace today after the clubs’ presidents, Josep MarÃa Bartomeu and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, were seen leaving the same hotel after attending a meeting with the European Club Association.
The meeting took place at the Gran Melia hotel in Madrid, where several of Europe’s elite clubs’ presidents and chairmen were present.
Bartomeu and Al-Khelaifi exiting the hotel shortly after one another holds significance, with rumours of a deal between the two clubs for the sale of Adrien Rabiot circulating round the world of social media.
Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé. The French winger struggled to pick up form last season due to injuries but started this season with a bang as he scored the decisive goal in the Super Copa between Barcelona and Sevilla.
According to Spanish newspaper AS, Rabiot has been a prime target for Barcelona for some time now, as well as Juventus.
It seemed impossible for Barcelona to sign Rabiot this summer when PSG refused to negotiate with them, but the situation appears to have changed somewhat after Rabiot turned down a contract extension with the Ligue 1 champions.
Barça boss Ernesto Valverde has already brought in Arthur and Arturo Vidal this summer, but wants more reinforcements in midfield after the departures of Paulinho, Andre Gomes and most significantly, Andrés Iniesta.
Rabiot’s current contract expires next summer, meaning he could leave on a free next summer if PSG do not sell him now.
The midfielder has been warned that he won’t play for the whole season if he doesn’t extend his contract, but Rabiot has remained equally stubborn in his position.
 As for Dembélé, Barça are reportedly willing to listen to offers for the player, just one year after they spent over €100m on the player.
The players’ respective values differ hugely due to their contract situations, but we could potentially see a player plus cash deal on the cards before the end of the month as one side of the PSG vs Rabiot staring contest will have to blink.
