Barcelona to activate ‘Plan B’ and move for Jean-Michel Seri and Angel Di Maria if they fail to land Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele
Sale of Neymar has given Catalans £198million to spend but they are struggling to land either of their top two summer targets
BARCELONA are contemplating activating ‘Plan B’ after seeing an £118million bid for Philippe Coutinho rejected by Liverpool, according to reports in Catalonia.
The Nou Camp hierarchy have made three offers for the Brazilian with no joy and are readying alternatives.
Sport claim Nice playmaker Jean-Michel Seri is their No 1 choice should they fail to land Coutinho.
While Angel Di Maria is also in line, with Borussia Dortmund playing hardball over Ousmane Dembele.
Neymar's £198million to Paris Saint-Germain has left Barcelona short in terms of quality and big names.
They have been desperate to sign Coutinho since before his international team-mate left — and their needs became greater once the former Santos man left.
Seri scored seven goals and provided nine assists in 39 games as Nice produced a stunning season to finish third in Ligue 1.
He has been likened by many to Barca legend Xavi — and was key in the Champions League play-off triumph over Ajax.
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At around £32m, he would also cost significantly less than Coutinho.
Meanwhile, Dembele may have gone on strike at Dortmund but the Bundesliga club are not budging an inch.
They are adamant they won't be bullied into selling one of their prize assets.
Barca will now look at bringing in Angel Di Maria from PSG.
The Argentina international is a good friend of Lionel Messi and played the best football of his career in La Liga with Real Madrid.
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