Pep Guardiola looking to swoop Bosnian midfielder from Barcelona

Manchester City has reportedly enquired about Bosnian Miralem Pjanic on Pep Guardiola’s orders. Barcelona has almost disregarded him and Koemanconsiders him a surplus.

The midfielder is one of Pep’s transfer targets this upcoming summer. And it won’t be surprising if the club actually lets him leave for a reasonable amount.

Pjanic arrived at the club after a ridiculous swap deal in 2020. Bartomeu let go of Arthur Melo to Juventus. And the 31-year-old was brought in exchange. As predicted, the move has not gone well for either party.

The Bosnian has struggled to make his presence felt at the Camp Nou. And Ronald Koeman now considers him out of his plans altogether.

Miralem has been a shadow of his former self. He has made only 28 appearances for the club in all competitions. Out of them, only a handful have come from the starting eleven. He has even failed to register a single goal contribution to his name.

Pjanic however had made it very clear that he did not intend to leave Barcelona. He insisted rather, that he was here to win the Champions League. He had even incited controversy in early December when he said he was not happy with so few minutes.

The veteran medio clearly wanted more playing time. So, he called out manager Koeman in a press release and expressed his dissatisfaction with him. This reportedly had further strained his relationship with the boss.

And everything now indicates the player is all set to depart the club after just one season.

Manchester City interested in the midfielder

According to a report by Mundo Deportivo, Pep Guardiola is a fan of the Barcelona outcast. The Spanish outlet also reports that Pep might raid his former club to swoop Pjanic this summer.

The move makes sense as Pep will soon have a vacancy in his squad. Brazilian veteran Fernandinho has not renewed his contract with the club. And he is all set to leave the Etihad at the end of this season.

The 35-year-old has played a key role in Pep’s side this season as they continue to chase a treble. Guardiola thinks that Pjanic may be Fernandinho’s ideal like for like replacement.

To that end, Calvert Lewin is also on City’s radar. However, Pep’s admiration for the Bosnian gives him a head-start.

As for the Catalans, the management would only be happy to see Pjanic leave. The veteran contributes very little, yet he draws a ridiculously huge salary. A rather ironic situation since ‘balancing the books’ was the primary excuse given by the Bartomeu administration to secure the said swap deal.

As for now, the Cityzens are yet to make a formal approach to the Blaugrana for the player. Nonetheless, Miralem is a talented player, with still some top-flight football left in him.

Once an official offer is on the table, the fans expect no delay from the club to offload Pjanic. It would only be beneficial for both parties if the player plied his trade elsewhere.

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