Barcelona’s decision to sell Arthur to Juventus in exchange for Miralem Pjanic and £5m got enough ridicule last summer, but things have hit a whole new level these days.
After an underwhelming debut season, Barcelona are now so desperate to get rid of Pjanic that they are prepared to let him leave the club for free. Finding a suitor might be tricky, but there are a handful of sides who have been tipped to launch bids, either permanent or loan, for the Bosnian.
Let’s take a look at which destination would be best.
We all know that Manchester United want a new central midfielder this summer, but there’s absolutely no way Pjanic is going to be their man.
United have learned from past mistakes and no longer pursue ageing, underperforming players, and that’s before you think about how little they would want to pay his huge contract.
It’s not happening. Next.
Just like United, Chelsea are hunting for a new midfielder, but they want someone more defensive than Pjanic – Jorginho is a better version of Pjanic so landing the Bosnian makes no sense.
Chelsea are chasing more long-term targets, like Declan Rice or Aurelien Tchouameni, and they have made their preferences clear.
Besides, we all know just how much Chelsea love signing high-earning players on the wrong side of 30.
Pjanic is keen on a return to Italy, where AC Milan have been tipped to offer him a new home.
I Rossoneri could do with a little more depth in that position, but they’re unlikely to turn to Pjanic because he probably wouldn’t be a regular starter.
The midfield duo of Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer were very impressive last year and won’t be losing their spots, so a high-earning backup will be out of the equation.
Pjanic feels like the most Everton signing ever. The Toffees love these big names and usually don’t put much thought in when signing them.
They’d give Pjanic a new home and likely pay him a tidy salary, but whether they can actually convince the Bosnian to move to Goodison Park is a different question entirely.
The Carlo Ancelotti appeal is gone, meaning Everton don’t have much to glam up the fact they finished tenth last season. No European football might be too much.
Pjanic’s preferred choice would be a return to Juventus, with whom he spent three impressive years (and one underwhelming one) before he left for Barcelona.
Juventus are obvious fans of Pjanic and love the chance to make a cut-price signing, and they could actually do with another central midfielder to make up the numbers.
Unfortunately, Juve would prefer that new signing to be Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli, so Pjanic will only ever be their Plan B.
Links to Tottenham write themselves because of the presence of former Juve director Fabio Paratici, who will be pushing for Pjanic’s signature.
Spurs could do with a little more creativity in midfield, where Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Harry Winks were guilty of a few underwhelming showings on that side of the ball. Pjanic would definitely fix that.
His wages may be high, but as the signing of Gareth Bale proved to us, Spurs are prepared to shell out when they need to if the deal is right. Don’t rule this one out.
If you want a move to Italy, joining the reigning Serie A champions isn’t a bad shout.
Inter have a boat-load of central midfielders already, but besides Nicolo Barella and Marcelo Brozovic, you could argue that Pjanic would be an upgrade on a few of them.
Roberto Gagliardini, Stefano Sensi and maybe Matias Vecino could all be replaced, so Pjanic would have a good shot at regular minutes if he joined up.
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