Barcelona and Real Madrid have each had to contend with midfield headaches during the opening weeks of this season.
Carlo Ancelotti only has two fully fit central midfielders, with veteran Luka Modric poised to partner Federico Valverde against Real Sociedad on Saturday. Jude Bellingham and Auerlien Tchouameni are back in training, while Eduardo Camavinga and Dani Ceballos will need a little longer.
Barca have been in fine form under Hansi Flick and are looking to make it five wins out of five in LaLiga against Catalan neighbours Girona this weekend. This despite being without Gavi and Frenkie de Jong in their engine room.
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It’s a set of combined circumstances that might have persuaded both clubs to look a little further down the line and, according to a report by Sport, both Clasico giants have their eyes on Spain midfielder Fabian Ruiz.
Former Napoli star Fabian was superb for Luis de la Fuente’s victorious national team at Euro 2024, scoring in the victories over Croatia and Georgia and excelling alongside the peerless Rodri.
Things are a little bit more complicated at club level, however, with the arrival of Portuguese sensation Joao Neves from Benfica threatening to curtail his first-team opportunities.
Fabian only played 47 minutes in a pair of substitute appearances across PSG’s first three Ligue 1 games in 2023/24.
