Southampton’s Oriol Romeu is a transfer target for Barcelona.
According to a report in The Sun the midfielder is being viewed as a summertime replacement for Sergio Busquets.
Romeu started his career with Barca but made just one appearance before moving on to Chelsea then to St Mary’s in 2015.
The 25-year-old has had a massive impact on Claude Puel’s midfield bringing him to the attention of Barca who are also keen on Saints defender Cedric Soares.
After constantly selling emerging talent in recent seasons Southampton are determined to build a team with Romeu given a four and a half year contract in January with skipper Virgil van Dijk signing a six year deal last May.
Resisting an offer from Barcelona will be a totally different task for the Saints board to deal with compared to holding off offers from other Premier League clubs.
Barcelona sold Romeu to Chelsea for £4.35m in 2011 with Southampton paying out £5m for the midfielder four years later.