Barcelona have offered to release Miralem Pjanic on a free transfer and Tottenham are keen on signing the playmaker, say reports.
The 31-year-old only joined the Spanish side last summer but endured a difficult debut season, starting in just six La Liga games.
According to Goal, Barcelona will let the midfielder go, as well as defender Samuel Umtiti, as neither player fits into coach Ronald Koeman’s plans.
The Catalan club are in a precarious financial position and want to reduce their wage bill.
However, Pjanic and Umtiti have three and two years respectively remaining on their deals , so moving them on won’t be simple unless a suitor appears.
The Express reports that they have found one for Pjanic in the form of Spurs, whose new sporting director Fabio Paratici knows the Bosnia-Herzegovina international well from their time together at Juventus.
Tottenham have contacted Barca about signing Pjanic, who has attracted interest from Manchester United in the past.
Pjanic has endured a difficult couple of seasons, having struggled to adapt to Maurizio Sarri’s style of football with Juventus in 2019/20 before playing a minor role with Barca last term.
He made just 19 appearances in all competitions at Camp Nou, without providing a goal or assist, but there’s still little doubt that it would be a steal if Spurs could bring him in on a shoestring.
Pjanic has an impressive CV, boasting four Serie A titles, two Coppa Italias and one Copa del Rey.
He has been named in the Serie A team of the year four times and the Champions League team of the season once, and he has a wealth of experience with 552 appearances in top-five leagues and 80 in the Champions League.
At the age of 31 he is far from finished, so if Spurs can bring him in, restore his confidence and play him in his best role, they may well find themselves a bargain – and a mean free-kick taker too.
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