Barcelona accelerate plans to sign Lionel Messi and Bruno Guimaraes in January transfer window - Paper Round

Barcelona president Joan Laporta wants to accelerate his bid to bring Lionel Messi back to the Camp Nou, according to Marca. The Catalan club have been plotting to re-sign the Argentine, who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent in 2021. Messi’s current contract in Paris is set to expire next summer and Laporta wants the club legend to retire “wearing the Barcelona shirt”. However, Marca report that Barca are growing impatient and are willing to move for Messi as early as January as they “do not want to wait until the summer”.

Paper Round’s view: This potential deal just does not seem viable. Messi is reportedly likely to leave PSG at the end of the season but there is no reason for him to bring forward his exit plan. He is putting in elite-level performances every week at the moment, so why would he leave mid-season? To make things worse, Barcelona didn’t even qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League. Messi could go on to win that trophy with PSG this season. Laporta’s plan seems a bit too ambitious.

The Daily Star report that Barcelona have joined Real Madrid and Chelsea in the race to sign Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes. Barca are looking to add some new talent to their midfield options and the report reveals that Frenkie de Jong could be sacrificed to raise the funds to sign Guimaraes. Manchester United still consider De Jong as their “top target” and Barca believe they could sell him for around £80 million then sign Guimaraes for £60 million. Newcastle have offered the Brazilian a new and improved contract in a bid to warn away potential suitors.

Paper Round’s view: Barcelona have a lot of plans in the heads of their recruitment team, but it does not seem like they all work out the way they want it to. The club spent all summer trying to get rid of De Jong…only for him to reject Manchester United. So why would he move to Old Trafford now? Maybe it’s because his first-team minutes have been limited this season – but then surely United will negotiate a lower transfer fee? Either way, Barca are doing all this then expecting Guimaraes to join them ahead of Chelsea or Real Madrid. They’ve got a lot of confidence.

Despite the previous report from the Star, Spanish media outlet Sport state that Frenkie de Jong is “not thinking of leaving Barcelona”. The Dutch midfielder is reportedly on the radar of a number of top clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, but he has no interest in leaving the Camp Nou. Sport say that it is De Jong’s “dream” to “stay and succeed at Barca” so will not even entertain the idea of leaving the club in the winter transfer window. The only way De Jong could depart in future is if the club forces him to leave after accepting an “astronomical offer”.

Paper Round’s view: It would not make sense for any club to go out of their way to submit a huge bid to sign De Jong in January. The winter transfer window has never really shown much value and it will probably be an even tougher market this season due to the World Cup. All the clubs interested in De Jong can probably hold off until the summer before launching any bids. The interesting part is that he apparently wants to stay now. Barca were so keen to sell him last summer, but he seems to be getting a second chance. Let’s see what happens next summer…

The Sun report that Cristiano Ronaldo has privately labelled his return to Manchester United as a “disaster”. The 37-year-old returned to Old Trafford last year after leaving for Real Madrid back in 2009. However, the Premier League club have failed to find a consistent level since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Ronaldo reportedly admitted his situation was a “disaster”, while venting his frustrations at the physical shape of his team-mates and the lack of investment on the club’s training ground at Carrington.

Paper Round’s view: Ronaldo clearly has an elite-level mentality. This can cause him to feel frustration with others who do have the same standards as him. There’s a reason why he became one of the best footballers in the history of the game. He holds himself to a higher standard. This is why he is frustrated with everything going on at Manchester United now. He left the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic at Old Trafford and has returned to a Europa League-level club. Obviously he isn’t going to be happy.