Barcelona are reportedly set to reignite their interest in Feyenoord midfielder Mats Wieffer this summer.
Having received glowing reports on the 24-year-old at the end of last season, the reigning La Liga champions apparently considered a swoop for his services in the most recent summer window.
However, sporting director Deco was supposedly of the view that it was not the right time to make a move for Wieffer, and the Blaugrana instead brought Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu to the club.
Wieffer propped up on Barcelona's radar after a breakthrough 2022-23 campaign, in which he helped Arne Slot's side win the Eredivisie title, and he has continued to go from strength to strength in 2023-24.
The midfielder has come up with six goals and four assists from 38 matches in all tournaments this season, despite often playing in a deep-lying role, although he is comfortable as a box-to-box player too.
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Wieffer's contributions include one goal against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and he has not missed a single game through injury this term, only sitting out one Eredivisie match through illness.
Thanks to his rise to prominence in his homeland, Wieffer has earned seven caps for the Netherlands - scoring his first Oranje goal in a 6-0 thrashing of Gibraltar in November - and he is expected to be on the plane for Euro 2024.
Towards the end of the 2022-23 season, Feyenoord agreed a contract extension with the 6ft 2in midfielder until 2027, but the reigning Dutch champions will still be braced for summer approaches from interested parties.
According to Sport, Barcelona plan to rekindle their pursuit of Wieffer when the summer transfer window reopens for business, and the Dutchman should prove to be an affordable acquisition for the Blaugrana at around €25m (£21.4m).
However, Barca will face tough competition from Atletico Madrid, whose manager Diego Simeone was hugely impressed by Wieffer when they locked horns with Feyenoord in the Champions League group stage.
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With Barcelona temporarily putting their pursuit of Wieffer on ice, Atletico supposedly made an effort to sign the Netherlands international in January, where Simeone and Antoine Griezmann were both involved in negotiations.
The capital giants ultimately could not strike an agreement with their Dutch counterparts, though, and Wieffer remained at Feyenoord, where he boasts a total of nine goals and 11 assists from 75 matches.
The 24-year-old would arrive at Barca as a long-term successor to Sergio Busquets, whom they failed to sign a direct replacement for last summer, and ex-Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen has therefore been forced to fill in as an emergency midfielder in recent weeks with Gavi, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong all injured.
Alternative midfield targets include Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes and Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi, but both men could fall out of Barcelona's price range.
The Blaugrana, who will part ways with head coach Xavi at the end of the season, eased past 10-man Atletico 3-0 on Sunday to remain eight points behind Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
Ben Knapton
