Barcelona Strives For This Summer's Fantastic Recruitment

JAKARTA - Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, said he was working on a very interesting signing after finalizing an agreement to sign Espanyol goalkeeper, Joan Garcia.

Barceloan's sporting director, Deco, told ESPN last month that Barcelona wanted to add other wingers to the squad.

Some of the names heavily linked to the Blaugrana are Nico Williams, Luis Diaz, Marcus Rashford, and Ivan Perisic. It's just a matter of how much money is available to spend.

Recent reports show that Athletic Club striker and Spanish National Team Nico Williams have emerged as Barcelona's number 1 target after Deco met with the player's agent, Felix Tainta, last week.

"We have brought in one player (Garcia). We are working on another very interesting recruitment," Laporta said in a meeting with club members last week.

Barcelona tried to sign Nico Williams last summer, but the deal never came to light as the club could not guarantee that he would be registered to play in La Liga.

The 22-year-old is still available for his release clause, which is around 58 million euros (66.7 million US dollars).

Last week, ESPN revealed that Barcelona had submitted an approach to Diaz rejected by Liverpool, with the Colombian confirming he was in talks with another club, which could speed up negotiations for Nico Williams.

Deco has also met with Rashford's agent and brother, Dwaine Maynard, recently.

The idea was to find out how much each deal cost, with Barcelona subject to the fair financial rules of La Liga, but Laporta rejected the advice from La Liga president Javier Tebas that they were still operating with certain limitations.

"There are many obstacles blocking us, but we have managed to overcome them. We can recruit players normally without La Liga's intervention."

"This is a real moment of satisfaction because a lot of work has been done for the club's economic recovery," said Laporta.

Barcelona completed their first signing this summer. Garcia has joined the contract until 2031 after the Catalan club activated the goalkeeper's release clause worth 25 million euros (28.8 million US dollars).