According to Catalan football newspaper SPORT, Barça will wrap up a move for AS Monaco and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Touré this weekend.
Touré, a defensive midfielder with an eye for long and short passing, is seen by Barça as the solution to the defensive midfield position currently occupied by EdmÃlson and Thiago Motta. Yaya Touré is the younger brother of Arsenal defender Kolo Touré, who played against Barcelona in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final in Paris.
Before joining AS Monaco, Touré played for Greek side Olympiakos alongside former Barça hero Rivaldo. He also played for Ukrainian side Metalurg Donetsk and Belgian side Beveren.
It is thought that Touré will be signed for a compromised fee of €10 million. Barça originally only wanted to pay AS Monaco €9 million whilst his club AS Monaco want €13 million. Any deal will only see cash-strapped Monaco only get 50% of any fee, as Touré's former club Metalurg Donetsk are entitled to the other 50%.
It is understood that terms have already been agreed between Barça and Touré and only that all the remains to be done is to convince AS Monaco to let the player go.
Touré's agent, Metalurg Donetsk's sporting director Dimitri Selluyk, is set to meet with Txiki Begiristain and vice-president Ferran Soriano on Friday.
Earlier, former Barça midfielder Gerard López, now at Monaco, said that his teammate Touré was open to a move to Barça.
"A few months ago I told him that Barcelona had called me to ask about him as a player and he had no idea about it," Gerard told COM Radio.
"Since then he has been asking me about the club, the city, the fans and has always something to say about Barca."
