Inter Sporting Director Piero Ausilio met with his Barcelona counterpart Mateu Alemany to discuss a number of potential player transfers yesterday.
This according to Spanish journalist Gerard Romero, reporting for Italian news outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, who names midfielders Franck Kessie and Marcelo Brozovic and wingback Jordi Alba among the names who were discussed by the pair of executives.
There have been rumours regarding potential transfers, and particularly swap deals, between Inter and Barcelona for some time now.
Particularly during the January transfer window, there were persistent rumours of a swap deal between Nerazzurri midfielder Brozovic and Blaugranas man Kessie being on the cards.
Whilst that exchange never came to pass, the links have not gone away as former AC Milan and Atalanta midfielder Kessie is a long-term target of Inter, whilst Romero reports that Brozovic is a major target for Barcelona to replace Sergio Busquets.
However, with regards to Kessie, the 26-year-old Ivorian international’s agency have rubbished the suggestion that he could leave the Camp Nou this summer, branding these reports as “fake news.”
In any event, the dialogue between Inter and Barcelona would look to be ongoing, and Romero reports for TMW that there was another meeting between the two clubs’ Sporting Directors Ausilio and Alemany where the pair’s names were prominent in the discussion.
However, it is not just Brozovic and Kessie who were discussed by the two executives, according to the Spanish journalist.
Romero also reports that wingback Alba was also spoken about during the meeting, with the 34-year-old having already been linked with Inter last summer though only as a replacement if Robin Gosens were to be sold.
The Spanish journalist does not detail the extent of the talks regarding the 34-year-old, who has made a total of 24 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions this season despite having fallen out of favour somewhat.