Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena has expressed his desire to join Barcelona and has encouraged the Catalan giants to activate his €60m (£51.2m) release clause.
The 22-year-old has established himself as an important first-team player for Villarreal over the last few seasons since returning from a productive loan spell at Girona in 2021-22.
Baena, a versatile midfielder who can also operate in attack, has made a total of 111 senior appearances for the Yellow Submarine, scoring 19 goals and registering 28 assists.
No Villarreal player has made more appearances than Baena (41) in all competitions so far this season, with the two-cap Spain international contributing with five goals and 16 assists, including a La Liga-high 12 assists.
Baena's impressive performances are understood to have caught the eye of a number of clubs including Barcelona, whom the youngster has aspirations of representing at some stage in his career.
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Baena dreams of playing for Barcelona
Responding to rumours linking him with Barca, Baena told Cadena SER: "Who wouldn't like to go to Barca? Playing for Barcelona is one of the biggest dreams.
"It is one of the best clubs in the world. Any player in the world would like to play for Barcelona. But I am in the club of my life and I'm also happy to be here.
"Nothing has happened to me or those around me. We are focused on finishing the season well."
Baena, who has over four years remaining on his contract, added: "I think that [the release clause] should be discussed with Fernando Roig (Villarreal's owner and president), but the €60m will have to be paid if they want me to leave."
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Can Barcelona afford to sign Baena?
Barcelona have been hamstrung by their well-documented financial troubles in recent years and they will be required to raise significant funds from player sales if they wish to recruit some of their key targets such as Baena this summer.
Although La Liga's new 1:1 spending cap rule only allows Barca to spend €1 for every €1 they recoup this summer, head coach Xavi is hopeful that the club can still make improvements to the first-team squad ahead of the new season.
"We are all united, everything is agreed upon with Deco, the president, the sports commission and staff," Xavi told reporters as quoted by 90min. "Hopefully we can reach the 1:1 regulation, it would help us a lot, but there are days left. We still have objectives this season.
"The trust that Deco and the president have generated, they are very optimistic. Last season we were conditioned not to do the total planning but we hope to do it this year."
A number of first-team players have been linked with a big-money exit from Camp Nou, including midfielder Frenkie de Jong, centre-back Ronald Araujo and teenage sensation Lamine Yamal, who has allegedly been identified by Paris Saint-Germain as a potential replacement for Real Madrid-bound Kylian Mbappe.
