Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal is regarded as one of the world’s most exciting possibilities, and Liverpool and Arsenal are both interested in signing him, with the rationale for a potential transfer being disclosed.
The 17-year-old winger broke onto the scene in 2023, making his senior Barcelona debut at the age of 15, and is currently one of Hansi Flick’s first-choice players.
Yamal scored seven goals and nine assists in 50 appearances across all competitions last season, and he appears to be on track to improve that total this season, with five goals and seven assists in just 13 games.
If he continues his current trajectory, the adolescent has the potential to become a future Ballon d’Or winner, thus Liverpool and Arsenal are both interested. According to journalist Miguel Delaney, the Premier League duo is both watching Yamal and ‘thinking future bids for the winger.’
While Barcelona is hesitant to surrender one of its greatest assets, financial constraints may force its hand. After losing an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over its 2023/24 season filings, the club is reportedly at risk of violating Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Barcelona sought to incorporate the €267 million (£222 million) sale of 10% of their broadcasting rights over the next 25 years as “other operating income” in their financial report for the season, which would count towards their FFP calculations.
However, UEFA argued that it should have been classified as “profits on disposal of tangible assets,” which do not count towards FFP, and fined Barcelona €500,000 (£416,000) for misreporting their data.
Barcelona challenged the verdict to CAS, but the court decided against the La Liga club on Friday, casting further doubt on their financial status.
Barcelona’s financial difficulties may force them to sell some of its greatest players, and Yamal will undoubtedly be one of the most in demand.
Delaney wrote in his email, “For now, rivals are once again eyeing their brilliant youth products such as Gabi, Pedri, and, of course, Lamine Yamal.”
“Arsenal and Liverpool would be quite interested in the latter, however improbable it appears right now. They’ll need to sell. “The CAS case demonstrated that there are no real creative options left.”
As previously reported, Liverpool have compiled a shortlist of winger targets as they prepare for the departure of Mo Salah, who is expected to leave Anfield at the end of the season.
We understand that the Reds’ top three targets are Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo, Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi, and Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane, but this might change if Yamal becomes available.
Arsenal, on the other hand, is hunting at prospective winger reinforcements, with Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo on their list.
It is worth remembering that Barcelona has already stated that they want to keep Yamal forever, having rejected a proposal of ‘approximately €250m (£211.2m)’ from Paris Saint-Germain for him this summer.
In other developments, Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa has been linked with a January loan transfer back to Serie A, although we understand these claims are inaccurate.
According to sources, Liverpool has no plans to loan out Chiesa. The Italian international is eager to prove himself to Arne Slot and show that he can replace Salah.
The Reds are presently planning to recruit a new winger, so they believe they will need to replace Salah if he leaves as predicted.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are looking for a new world-class striker to fight with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, and we can disclose that Newcastle player Alexander Isak is their top choice.
Isak has only scored one Premier League goal this season, but the 25-year-old remains one of Europe’s top young forwards.
Sources have told TEAMtalk that Arsenal will leap at the chance to sign Isak next summer, despite the fact that it would cost more than £100 million to tempt him away from St James’ Park.
Newcastle are eager to tie Isak, who is now under contract until 2028, down to a new long-term contract in order to deter interest in his signing.
However, we understand that the striker is hesitant to sign a contract because his top aim is to play regular Champions League games, which he believes is improbable with the Magpies right now.
According to TEAMtalk sources, Isak’s prospects of leaving Newcastle are’very high.’
