Barcelona have set a €5 million asking price for Oscar Mingueza amid interest from Valencia and Hoffenheim, while Arnau Comas is poised to join FC Basel.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona have informed Oscar Mingueza that he can leave the club in the summer transfer window, with the defender attracting interest from La Liga rivals Valencia and German outfit TSG Hoffenheim.
A product of Barcelona’s La Masia youth setup, Mingueza made his first-team breakthrough in the 2020/21 season under Ronald Koeman and made a solid impression. However, this past campaign, the 23-year-old fell down the pecking order of things upon the arrival of Eric Garcia, while his game-time took a major hit once Xavi Hernandez took over the reins as manager.
Mingueza finished the 2021/22 campaign with just 27 appearances across all competitions, of which only one-third were from the start in La Liga. With Barcelona set to sign Andreas Christensen and planning to add another centre-back, the Spaniard’s prospects of regular game-time would take a further beating next season if he stays put.
Barcelona manager Xavi has already informed Mingueza that he is not in the plans for the upcoming campaign, with the defender’s agent working on finding the best solution for the La Masia ace.
And Valencia have emerged as one of the potential destinations for Mingueza. The La Liga club were keen on signing the 23-year-old in January as well and even discussed the possibility of a transfer for the defender in a recent meeting with Barcelona president Joan Laporta. Apart from Los Che, German outfit TSG Hoffenheim are also keen on signing the centre-back, who can play at right-back as well.
Both clubs are said to have made enquiries for Mingueza, and Barcelona, who are happy to offload their academy product, are demanding a transfer fee of at least €5 million to sell him in the summer. Given that his contract expires in 2023, the €5 million valuation seems reasonable enough as Mingueza looks poised to leave Camp Nou this summer.
Arnau Comas set to sign for FC Basel
While Mingueza is yet to learn his next destination, fellow La Masia trainee and Barcelona prospect Arnau Comas seems to have his future sorted already. Indeed, as reported by Relevo on Twitter, the 22-year-old Barcelona B captain is all set to depart the club this summer on a free transfer and join Swiss giants FC Basel.
Like Mingueza, Comas is also a product of Barcelona’s La Masia academy and has shown a lot of promise in his youth career. The centre-back, who captained the Catalans’ B team in the 2021/22 campaign, featured 29 times in all competitions for Sergi Barjuan’s side. However, despite making the bench a few times, the centre-back never made his first-team bow for the Blaugrana.
Comas’ contract with Barcelona stands to expire at the end of June. The club had the option of extending the deal by another season but have decided not to do so and are prepared to let him go on a free transfer, with a sell-on clause for a percentage of any future sale.
Arnau Comas fichará por el Basilea. El capitán del Barça B acaba contrato y jugará en Suiza.
Los azulgrana tenían opción de prorrogar su vinculación, pero la idea es no ejecutarla para que pueda irse libre e incluir un porcentaje en una futura venta.@albert_roge ? @tjuanmarti pic.twitter.com/CGWgxpdtPD
— Relevo (@relevo) June 13, 2022
This claim contradicts previous reports that had indicated that it was Comas who had rejected Barcelona’s proposal to prolong his stay at the club as his pathway to the first-team setup was blocked at Camp Nou.
Irrespective of that, the 22-year-old is now poised to end his association with Barcelona and a move to Swiss giants FC Basel is understood to be close to completion for Comas.
