It’s unclear at this stage as to whether Barcelona will be searching for a successor to Andres Iniesta, but Lionel Messi reportedly has a specific target in mind.
As noted by BBC Sport, Iniesta has revealed that he will make a decision on his future before the end of next month, with a prolonged stay at the Nou Camp or a potentially lucrative move to China being the two options on the table.
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While it could be argued that the signing of Philippe Coutinho was made with this in mind in order to fill that void when it opened up, speculation suggests that there could still be another arrival.
According to Don Balon, as re-reported by The Express, Messi wants Isco to be the player to fill his shoes, but it goes without saying that it’s highly unlikely he’ll move straight from Real Madrid as few have made a direct move between the two old rivals.
Instead, it’s suggested that with Isco reportedly restless at the Bernabeu, Messi wants the Catalan giants to make their move when he leaves to go to another club and eventually play alongside him at the Nou Camp.
It’s an ambitious plan in truth and it seems pretty unlikely that it will play out as planned. Nevertheless, the one thing that Messi is spot on with if to be believed, is that Isco could certainly do a great job at Barcelona given his technical quality and ability to fit into the style of play at Barca.
Whether or not he finds himself playing alongside Messi in the future remains to be seen, but a lot needs to happen before that as ultimately he hasn’t even moved on from Real Madrid yet.
With Don Balon touting a 2019 move to Barcelona, it really does seem like a long shot at this stage, but with Zinedine Zidane not deploying him in a prominent role consistently in Madrid, Isco may well be considering his plans moving forward and an exit could be the first step to the unlikeliest of moves happening.