Barcelona have reportedly not yet reached an agreement to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah.
Tah is out of contract in the summer, and Barca are believed to be working hard in order to seal the player's signature on a free transfer, with a pre-contract agreement this month.
The 28-year-old remains a key figure in the Leverkusen side, starting every game across all three competitions for the club so far this season.
Tah also skippered Die Werkself to their first ever Bundesliga title last season under Xabi Alonso, and played four games for Germany at Euro 2024 last summer.
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Barca still working on Tah deal
Reports in the Spanish press at the end of December had claimed that Barca had won the race for the Tah, and that a deal had been agreed between the two parties, but new claims contradict that.
Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sport Germany claims that there is still no agreement between the player and Barcelona.
With Tah in the final six months of his contract, his club Bayer Leverkusen have no say in what the player can do, meaning he is free to sign a pre-contract agreement elsewhere to move in the summer.
However, at this stage, the report states that Tah is yet to make a final decision and is keeping all of his options open for the time being.
It is believed Barca are doing all they can to make the deal happen, though, with Tah right at the top of their priorities for this transfer window.
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Will Araujo deal play a part?
Barcelona could also be striving to make a deal happen because Ronald Araujo is reportedly on the verge of leaving the club this month.
Italian media claim that Araujo has given the green light to move to Juventus on loan in January, after falling down the pecking order on his return from injury.
Araujo has only played one game since returning at the start of December, and that was in their Copa del Rey win against fourth-tier Barbastro at the weekend, suggesting he is not part of manager Hansi Flick's plans.
Instead, Flick is evidently seeking out a reunion with German international Tah, who he managed during his brief spell in charge of the national team between 2021 and 2023.
However, Flick only gave Tah a handful of caps, and did not include him in his squad for the 2022 World Cup, where Germany were eliminated in the group stage.
Andrew Delaney
