Chelsea and Manchester United are both interested in highly-rated Barcelona midfield duo Gavi and Pedri, according to reports.
The Blues brought in midfielders Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia during the summer transfer window for a combined fee of £173m.
Lesley Ugochukwu also arrived to add to Mauricio Pochettino’s centre-mid options, which already featured Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka.
Man Utd also added to their midfield during the summer. Erik ten Hag brought in Mason Mount from Chelsea for £55m, and signed Sofyan Amrabat on a season-long loan.
Despite this, the managers of both clubs are keen to bring in at least one new midfielder in the January transfer window, and it seems that Chelsea and Man Utd could converge on the same targets.
Barcelona manager Xavi is a big fan of both Gavi and Pedri, however, so it would require a big offer to lure either of them away from the Camp Nou this winter.
According to Spanish outlet SPORT, Chelsea and Man Utd have both been ‘showing an interest’ in Barca duo Gavi and Pedri in recent weeks.
The report claims that the Catalans could be tempted to sell due to their ongoing financial concerns. It’s no secret that they need to offload players before they buy these days, and the midfield pair would return a sizeable fee.
Indeed, it’s thought that Gavi and Pedri, who have also been scouted by Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain recently, are both valued in excess of €100m (£87m).
As mentioned, though, Xavi is a big fan of both players and would much prefer to keep hold of them for the foreseeable future.
SPORT add that other players such as Ansu Fati, who is currently on loan with Brighton and Hove Albion, are more likely to leave at the end of the season.
Fati was once considered to be one of the most exciting young players in the world, but it’s thought that Barca would be willing to sell him permanently for the right price.
If the Catalans fail to raise significant funds from other player sales, however, they could be forced into accepting a big offer for either Gavi or Pedri at the end of the season. Therefore, they are two players for Chelsea and Man Utd fans to keep an eye on.
