Barcelona communicate position to Jonathan Tah on summer move

Barcelona have been heavily linked to Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah over the last few months, with the 29-year-old Germany international available on a free this summer. At one stage it looked as if a deal was as good as done, but there is far more uncertainty now, with less than two months remaining on his deal.

It is believed that Barcelona have already agreed terms with Tah, and were set to bring him in this summer, with their close relations with agent Pini Zahavi helping. Bayern Munich, who like Barcelona tried to sign him last summer, had dropped out of the race for his services, but have now revived there interest. With uncertainty over Barcelona’s salary limit situation, they may not be able to register players this summer.

Barcelona have remained in talks with Tah consistently say Sport, and have kept him abreast of their circumstances. Their stance is clear: if no central defenders leave, then they will not be able to sign him. They have asked for patience and calm from Tah, who is keen to play for Barcelona and under Hansi Flick again, but will have other offers. In addition to Bayern, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea have all been linked to Tah again recently.

At one stage it had looked certain that Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen would be on their way out sooner or later, but the Catalan daily say that neither are showing any signs of wanting to listen to offers this summer. With Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez assured of a place next season, and Eric Garcia set to be offered a new deal, that would leave Barcelona with five central defenders, not including loanee Clement Lenglet. It seems a shift will be required in order for Tah to be able to sign for the Blaugrana.