Report: Barcelona’s Ilaix Moriba could be key to Bayern Munich landing Marcel Sabitzer

Interesting developments on the transfer market: According to Sport, wantaway Barcelona midfielder Ilaix Moriba could become a key pawn in Bayern Munich’s pursuit of Marcel Sabitzer. Both Moriba and Sabitzer are represented by the same agents, who want to send the La Masia youth to RB Leipzig as a replacement for the Austrian, who is in the final year of his contract. Sabitzer has been heavily linked with Bayern in recent weeks.

Just to provide some background on these dealings — Ilaix Moriba is a Barcelona youth player who was extensively used by Ronald Koeman last season. After getting chances with the first team, his entourage began demanding a large wage increase to keep him at the club (the youngster’s contract expires next year). With the Catalans obviously suffering from numerous financial difficulties, talks between Moriba’s agents and the Barca board broke down several weeks ago. Now, the club are looking to sell him this window.

Photo by Cristian Trujillo/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

RB Leipzig have allegedly offered a fee of around 8m euros, which Barca have yet to accept. They apparently want at least 15m. However, dragging negotiations out any further risks them losing a talented player for free, in an era where Barca needs every penny it can get. A deal could be reached if they’re willing to be flexible.

Where does Bayern Munich come into all of this? Well, Moriba’s agents are also Sabitzer’s agents. Much like the Spaniard, Sabitzer’s contract also expires in a year, and he’s apparently angling for a move, preferably within Germany. This effectively means he’s looking for a Bayern move, and we have reports that the player has agreed terms with the Bavarians. However, no offers have been made to Leipzig as of yet.

Could Moriba’s move to RBL help Bayern secure Sabitzer? It seems like a complicated deal with a lot of moving parts, but the logic is sound. With a proper replacement, Leipzig may soften their stance on the Austrian’s transfer fee, helping out a cash-strapped Bayern. Either that, or this could be another instance of a news outlet looking for links between two completely unrelated transfers, just so they can get “Barca” and “Bayern” in the headline.

Let’s see how this all goes.