Barcelona eyeing Serie A star as Gini Wijnaldum alternative - Reports

Barcelona reportedly views AS Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini as an alternative to Georginio Wijnaldum.

The Catalans were close to signing Wijnaldum with reports suggesting the club had agreed to sign the Liverpool star on a Bosman move after the expiry of his contract at the end of the month.

But now PSG looks set to hijack Barcelona's move for Wijnaldum as the French club is willing to offer him double the wages the Spanish giants offered.

According to AS, Barcelona is set to turn their attention away from the Dutch midfielder and focus their efforts on signing AS Roma captain Lorenzo Pellegrini this summer.

Barcelona is desperate to sign a box-to-box midfielder this summer to partner with Frenkie de Jong and Sergio Busquets in midfield. Pellegrini has been one of the standout midfielders in Serie A since joining AS Roma from Sassuolo in 2017.

Pellegrini's impressive performances for Roma earned him a call-up to the Italy national squad in 2017. He has made 17 appearances for his country, and is set to star for Italy at Euro 2020 this summer.

The midfielder starred for Roma in the Italian club's run to the Europa League semi-finals this season, where they lost 8-5 on aggregate to Manchester United.

Pellegrini has just one year left on his current deal with AS Roma, which could force the club to sell him this summer rather than lose him on a free transfer next year.

With reports Georginio Wijnaldum has signed for PSG, Diario AS claims Barcelona will instead turn to Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini https://t.co/RRweyWnT4Z #ASRoma #FCBarcelona #PSG #LFC pic.twitter.com/zbzY0RNUiF

— footballitalia (@footballitalia) June 7, 2021

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Barcelona will look to negotiate a bargain price with AS Roma for Lorenzo Pellegrini due to his contract situation

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Barcelona's current financial situation has forced them to look to the loan and free agency market for new signings in the summer.

The Catalan giants have already completed the signings of free agents Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia, and could sign Memphis Depay on a free transfer in the coming weeks.

Barcelona will turn to Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini after missing out on Liverpool's Georginio Wijnaldum to Paris Saint-Germain, according to Diario AS.

— RumorsTransfersNews24/7 📰 (@rumorstransfers) June 8, 2021

Barcelona will look to negotiate a bargain price with AS Roma for Lorenzo Pellegrini since he has just one year remaining on his current contract with the Italian club.

The Blaugrana could propose a swap deal that could see Miralem Pjanic return to AS Roma in exchange for Pellegrini.