Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are the Premier League clubs who are sitting on the fence to take advantage of Ilaix Moriba’ contract situation with Barcelona.
La Masía graduate broke into the first-team squad in the 2020-2021 season under Ronald Koeman. The 18-year-old midfielder made 18 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and two assists.
Moriba has a pretty similar style to French midfielder Paul Pogba. The youngster is strong, quick and also has trickery in his feet which resembles Pogba a lot.
The starlet joined Barcelona in 2010 from the city rival Espanol. The midfielder came into notice very quickly. Manchester City and Juventus tried to sign him in 2019. But, Barcelona gave him a new lucrative contract of €500,000 net per year in salary and included a €100 million release clause in the contract.
Can any Premier League club sign Moriba from Barcelona?
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have prioritized the contract renewal of Ilaix Moriba this summer. But, the Blaugrana have faced a huge stumble block in the pursuit of that.
The agency that represents the midfielder has a huge financial demand for their client to renew the contract. Moriba has a contract with the Catalan giant until June 2022.
Barcelona have clarified that the player’s demand is very high in the club’s financial crisis. And if they do not lower their demand then the club will have to sell the youngster this summer.
Currently, the Premier League clubs have way more financial power than Barcelona and if the Blaugrana decide to sell their youngster this summer, then the English clubs can provide Moriba the financial package that they are asking for.
The midfielder and his representatives will be hoping for a bidding war this summer from Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. However, it will be interesting to see if Barcelona sell their star or not. The midfielder has enormous talent and could become one of the best in the world. Moriba and Pedri could create a generational midfield with Frankie De Jong from the deep.
But, the situation is getting tougher between the player and the club. Even though Moriba is at Barcelona for over a decade.
