Former Barcelona technical secretary Ramon Planes has confirmed he has pursued part of their current squad in a bid to take them to Saudi Arabia. In an interview, Al-Ittihad's current technical secretary explained that he had also shown interest from Bayern Munich in two of their top talents.
A number of names, including Robert Lewandowski, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ansu Fati and especially Raphinha, have been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. There was speculation that Barcelona would try to buy them, but Planes confirmed that Al-Ittihad were interested, but not which names they were interested in.
“It is true that some players who have appeared in the press have been contacted to sign them. We are looking for players with a name who make the competition attractive, but also young talent.”
A good example of this is Las Palmas playmaker Alberto Moleiro, who was linked with a move to the Middle East this summer.
“We negotiated to bring in Moleiro from Las Palmas, who I already liked during my time at Barça,” he also told Radio Barcelona.
Planes had a successful spell at Barcelona while in charge of recruitment, with both Pedri and Ronald Araujo coming in as unknown teenagers from Las Palmas and Boston in Uruguay respectively. The latter is currently linked with an exit, but Planes thinks Araujo is happy in the Catalan capital.
“I am convinced that Pedri and Ronald Araujo are happy to be at Barcelona, even though they are young players with potential and their names are certainly on the agenda of big clubs.”
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