Koeman Reveals Barca's 'Strong' Desire To Sign Liverpool's $33M Midfielder In Triple Raid

FC Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman admitted the Spanish club still has a “strong” desire to sign Liverpool FC’s Gini Wijnaldum along with Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia at the next transfer window in January.

At the recently ended summer transfer market, Koeman, who had replaced Quique Setien as Barcelona’s new coach ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, wanted to bring his fellow Dutchmen Wijnaldum and Depay to Nou Camp. While Barcelona failed to sign Depay due to a certain La Liga rules, Wijnaldum recently confirmed he never had serious transfer discussions with Barcelona.

Daily Mirror quoted Koeman saying Barcelona’s interest in Wijnaldum was strong. "Our interest for Wijnaldum is strong. I wanted to bring him here in the summer because he has the ability to make fantastic runs from midfield and turn up in the box at the right moments. I am convinced he can really add something to the team. But the financial situation of Barcelona was known at his club," added Koeman.

In a conversation with Dutch publication AD, Koeman also cleared Wijnaldum’s move from Liverpool to Barcelona did not depend on Lionel Messi’s future at Nou Camp.

Wijnaldum, who moved from Newcastle United to Anfield for a transfer fee of around $33 million, has entered the final year of his Liverpool contract and an extension is nowhere on the cards as of now.

"Our interest in Wijnaldum was separate [to Lionel Messi's future]. I think our squad could use some depth, especially when we haven't got the ball. His position was ultimately less of a priority than, for example, the right-back or the striker position," said Koeman before adding he also wanted to sign Lyon's Depay to improve Barcelona’s depth.

"We wanted Memphis because he is a great player and because he has qualities that we lacked in my opinion: especially depth in our attack. Most attackers at Barcelona want the ball to their feet. Memphis can be used as a target man, but he can also come deep. He is strong, dynamic, and can play centrally as well as from the left. [Trying to sign him in January] is certainly a possibility, yes. I will try because I would like to have him here. But I cannot estimate now what the financial situation of the club is like in January," added Koeman in the interview with AD.

The Dutch manager also said that Barcelona are once again going to try to sign Manchester City’s 19-year-old defender Garcia in January. “But right now I cannot know how the finances of the club are in January, so I have to wait and see,” added Koeman.