Barcelona reportedly have no intention of giving Premier League side Aston Villa the chance to sign prodigious midfielder Nico Gonzalez on a permanent basis.
According to Spanish outlet AS (via Sport Witness), Barcelona continue to value midfielder Nico Gonzalez as an important part of their long-term project and will only let the player leave on a loan deal amidst Premier League interest from Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
This comes after recent reports that the 21-year-old has surfaced as a potential summer target for Premier League clubs, with Barcelona keen to offload the young Spaniard to gain some regular first-team experience vital for his development. His agent, Jorge Mendes, is understood to be on the lookout for a new club and has sounded out both Villa and Wolves about a possible move.
Gonzalez spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Valencia. While he performed admirably during his time at the Mestalla, he also had his fair share of injury problems. He made only 26 outings for Los Che while missing 12 matches due to a metatarsal injury.
He has already returned to Camp Nou, but the Spanish midfielder could well be shipped out on loan yet again as there is no space for Nico in Xavi’s plans at Barcelona currently. Barcelona have a wealth of talent in the engine room with the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Gavi, Pedri, Franck Kessie, and new addition Ilkay Gundogan.
Although Kessie could be heading for the exit door, Gonzalez could likely find himself at the bottom of the pecking order should he stay at Barcelona, who are also keen on bringing in Oriol Romeu as a short-term fix following Sergio Busquets’s replacement.
However, even though the Catalans want to offload Gonzalez, AS reports that they have no intention to sanction a permanent sale for the youngster, and are only considering a loan exit at this stage.
The 21-year-old is still regarded very highly at Camp Nou despite his relatively mediocre loan spell at Valencia last time out. They believe Nico can grow and gain more experience with another loan move this summer.
This comes as a transfer blow to the player’s Premier League suitors, Aston Villa, who were said to be keen to secure his services. Unai Emery’s side have been on a roll in the transfer market this summer. They have signed Pau Torres from Villarreal while also securing the signature of Youri Tielemans on a free transfer. They are also actively bidding for Bayer Leverkusen speedster Moussa Diaby.
With the likes of Tielemans, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey, Boubacar Kamara, and Douglas Luiz in their ranks, the Villains are not particularly short of quality in the midfield area. But more options would have done no harm given the Lions have put fringe stars Morgan Sanson, Leander Dendoncker, and Marvelous Nakamba up for sale.
However, just nurturing a player for another club for a year makes little sense for ambitious Villa, who are likely to withdraw their interest in his signature. With Gonzalez set for another loan exit from Barcelona, there are a host of other clubs interested in acquiring his services on a temporary basis, including Portuguese giants Porto and Spanish sides Real Betis, Villarreal, and Valencia.
