Barcelona 'will have to sell Miralem Pjanic BEFORE sealing deal for Wijnaldum'

Barcelona will reportedly have to offload Miralem Pjanic before they can sign Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

The Dutch midfielder is believed to have his heart set on joining Barcelona this summer and will run down the final months of his Liverpool contract to seal a free transfer there.

Former Holland boss Ronald Koeman has made no secret of his admiration for the 30-year-old and has identified him as a key target to improve his midfield, but Wijnaldum may have to wait until Barcelona can trim their squad before signing for them.

According to Sport, Koeman will have to offload a midfielder to free up space for Wijnaldum and will look to sell Pjanic to do so.

The Barcelona manager does not want to lose any of the club's young talent in midfield and will instead look to move on Pjanic despite only signing him one year ago.

The Bosnian playmaker signed for Barca from Juventus in a swap deal with Arthur Melo but has struggled for form in Spain, with no goals or assists in 28 appearances this season.

Reports claim Pjanic has attracted interest from several teams in France and Italy while Barcelona are said to be confident of moving him on.

His departure could then pave the way for the LaLiga giants to finally complete a deal for Wijnaldum at the end of the season.

Jurgen Klopp is still hopeful Wijnaldum will stay at the club, but that is looking increasingly unlikely.

The Liverpool mainstay was however tight-lipped when pressed on his future earlier this week, telling Dutch outlet NOS: 'They will always talk about these things but as I've said on other occasions, I have no news still.

'They say this in the media but I have no news. When there is I will talk about it, but there isn't.'