Geoffrey Kondogbia unexpectedly became a target of Barcelona, according to the usually reliable sources of the Goal.com portal. The Catalans will try to acquire the Inter Milan midfielder if they fail to reach an agreement with Marco Verratti and Paulinho.
The Barcelona officials have already contacted the Frenchman and asked if he would be interested in moving to La Liga, but first they will try to secure Verratti's signature.
However, Paris Saint-Germain, who sees Barcelona as one of their biggest competitors in the UEFA Champions League, does not want to sell Verratti. The French club, who lost the league title, will try to convince the Italian with new signings.
Meanwhile, Paulinho has a release clause of 35 million pounds in his contract with Guangzhou Evergrande, and Barcelona is not willing to pay that much for the Brazilian. The Chinese club is not willing to let go of their star for a lower price, as foreign player registration is becoming more restricted in the local league.
So, with negotiations cutting into the transfer budget for a new Lionel Messi contract, Barcelona's only option seems to be to turn to Kondogbia. He is happy at Inter, but it would be difficult to reject an offer from a club like Barcelona.
So far, the 24-year-old footballer has struggled in Italy, so Inter may not be able to keep him at all costs.
