Barcelona scouting 27-year-old midfielder with €30-35m asking price

Barcelona did not manage to bring in a deeper midfielder this past summer, instead opting to spend what they could on Dani Olmo. Just days out from the end of the transfer window, they were hit with the dreadful news that Marc Bernal would be ruled out for the rest of the season.

One of the options they looked at was loaning Liverpool talent Stefan Bajcetic, while another was PSV Eindhoven’s Jerdy Schouten. However they were unable to clear space in their salary limit for either.

The Blaugrana continue to watch Schouten though, but even if they do manage to clear the space in their salary limit, the 27-year-old will not come cheap. PSV are asking for €30-35m for his signature. Additionally, a number of club are following him in the Premier League, as per Matteo Moretto, who explained that a number of scouts are to be found at his matches on a regular basis.

Schouten has been capped 13 times for the Netherlands, and made a €15m move to PSV from Bologna two summers ago. It is no surprise they are asking for around double the money, with plenty of time left on his contract and his stock rising. If they have the money though, Barcelona may at some point have to accept they may need to spend in order to cover themselves there, even with Bernal showing promise.