Barcelona 'readying €60m bid' for Real Betis' Nabil Fekir
By Tom Gott
Barcelona president Joan Laporta is said to be a huge fan of Real Betis midfielder Nabil Fekir and is ready to authorise a mammoth summer bid for the Frenchman.
Fekir has impressed since his move from Lyon in 2019, racking up 19 goals and 20 assists in his first 100 appearances, and he was recently rewarded with a new contract with Betis which ties him to the club until 2026.
According to Sport, news of Fekir's extension was met with some frustration from Laporta as the president is keen to bring him to Camp Nou.
Nevertheless, Laporta has not been deterred and is understood to be plotting a bid worth around €60m for the 28-year-old, although that is not expected to be enough as Betis will demand around €80m to sell Fekir.
That figure is likely to be far too high for a Barcelona side who are already planning to break the bank to sign Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund. The Norwegian comes with a release clause of around £63m but agent fees and enormous wages will make the deal far more expensive.
Should they miss out on Haaland, then Barcelona hope to bring in Real Sociedad's Alexander Isak, who could command a higher transfer fee than the Dortmund man but nowhere near the same kind of wages.
Barcelona also have plans to bring in a new left-back and goalkeeper, with Leeds United's Illan Meslier on the shortlist in the search for the latter.
That's a whole lot of money for a club without a whole lot of money, so there may need to be a few more departures before an €80m move for Fekir starts to look plausible.