Mourinho Eyes Barcelona Castoff to Complete Fenerbahçe Puzzle
Mourinho is gearing up Fenerbahçe for the upcoming season and has his eye on a player who was on Barcelona's radar a few months ago.
José Mourinho arrived at Fenerbahçe in Turkey like a hero and is now getting the team ready his way for the 2024-2025 season. The 61-year-old Portuguese coach has requested several big-money signings from the club but is still not satisfied. He's now targeting a LaLiga player who Barcelona was interested in a couple of months ago.
Since Mourinho's arrival, Fenerbahçe has secured six new signings at a cost of nearly 50 million euros ($54.5 million): Cenk Tosun (free), Levent Mercan (2 million), Oguz Aydin (6 million), Allan Saint-Maximin (loan, 8 million), Caglar Soyuncu (8 million), and Youssef En-Nesyri (19.5 million).
However, with the need to sign a midfielder due to Fred's injury and Krunic's lack of effectiveness since coming from AC Milan, Mourinho has asked the management to bring in 30-year-old Argentine Guido Rodríguez, who was a top option for Barcelona a few months ago.
Mario Branco, the Turkish club's sporting director, contacted the player and his agent directly to finalize the signing, hoping to close the deal soon since the Argentine's contract has ended, making him a free agent. However, the player's salary and signing bonus are quite high, so no agreement has been reached yet. Additionally, Fenerbahçe needs to act fast because Guido also has offers from other European and Saudi Arabian clubs.
Barcelona's interest ended due to the lack of an agreement. Barça wanted Guido to strengthen their midfield with an experienced LaLiga player with great leadership after his stint with Betis. One of the main factors for their interest was that Guido's contract was ending, meaning he would have joined the Catalan side on a free transfer.
