Bayern Munich primed and ready to pounce on Barcelona quartet

Bayern Munich are primed and ready to swoop on four of Barcelona’s stars, according to a report in Spain.

LaLiga giants Barcelona have been left crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic and facing a huge financial struggle.

The Catalan giants did not spend anything on transfer fees in the summer. They did add the free-transfer signings of Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay, but those were offset by Lionel Messi’s departure and the loan exit of Antoine Griezmann.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said in August that the club had losses of 481m and was left with a negative net worth of 451m.

Laporta has blamed the previous regime, under Josep Bartomeu, for the club’s perilous situation. And their plight has not gone unnoticed in Europe with Bayern Munich watching from afar.

According to Spanish outlet Sport, the Bundesliga side have got designs on a quartet of Barcelona stars.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Frenkie de Jong, Sergino Dest and Pedri are all interesting the German giants.

All four have reportedly been on Bayern’s wanted list previously. In fact the Bavarian club battled with Barcelona for the signature of Dest in 2020. The USMNT right-back decided to join Barca instead of Bayern when he arrived for £19m from Ajax.

Dest, who has been filling in at left-back for Barca, picked up another injury on international duty last week. He was forced off in the USA’s win over Jamaica, but was on the bench for Sunday’s defeat by Panama.


Five glamour appointments Newcastle United could make as manager


Barca stars on long-term contracts

Whether or not Bayern will be able to prise the 20-year-old away on the cheap remains to be seen. He is under contract until 2025.

Goalkeeper Ter Stegen, 29, is another player under contract until 2025. Given his age though, Barca may well be open to the sale of the Germany international.

Another player who is under contract long-term is Netherlands star De Jong. The midfielder is a first-team regular for Ronald Koeman and has a deal until 2026.

De Jong was said to be a target for Bayern before he moved from Ajax in 2019.

He will be a difficult player to get out of Barca, especially with fellow countryman Koeman at the helm.

Pedri is believed to be another target for Bayern. But the 18-year-old has become integral to Koeman and the youngster made 52 appearances last season.

He has also featured heavily for Spain and is under contract until 2022, with a two year option.

READ MORE: Euro Paper Talk: Chelsea to fix big transfer regret with sacrifice suggested