Barcelona watch on, but two of Europe’s rising prospects are in no mood to play the transfer game before the final whistle blows on their seasons.
For now, Vesnik Aslani and Luka Vuskovic are treating the Camp Nou chatter as background noise.
Aslani scores, shrugs off Barcelona talk
In Germany, Vesnik Aslani keeps doing the one thing he says he can control: affecting games. The 23-year-old Kosovan striker was on target for Hoffenheim in a 2-1 defeat to Mainz, another reminder of why Barcelona’s scouting department has his name underlined.
Ten goals and six assists this season have pushed him into the conversation for a summer move, but Aslani refuses to be dragged into it. His stance is blunt and consistent.
“I can only influence what happens on the pitch; I strive to give my best performance and help the team, whether by scoring goals, creating them or anything else,” he told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo after the Mainz game.
The message didn’t soften when the subject of his future came up again.
“Regardless of anything else, I give my all for the team. What happens off the pitch doesn’t worry me; everyone talks and talks. As I said before, I can only influence what happens on the pitch.”
This is not a new posture. Aslani pointed back to his days at Elfsborg, when transfer rumours also swirled around him.
“Last season, when I was still at Elfsborg, the situation was similar. I always used to say: ‘Leave me alone, let me play football, let me enjoy myself,’ and that is exactly what I’m doing this season as well. In the end, we’ll see what happens.”
For Barcelona, those numbers and that mentality make him an intriguing option. For Aslani, the only table that matters right now is the Bundesliga one.
Vuskovic keeps options open, but Tottenham contract stands
A few hundred kilometres away, another name on Barcelona’s list is taking a similar line, though with a slightly different twist.
Luka Vuskovic, the highly rated 19-year-old Croatian defender currently on loan at Hamburg, also finds himself pulled into the orbit of the Catalan giants. His response: respect the contract, acknowledge the chaos of football, and keep the timeline vague.
“In the world of football, nothing is certain; it could happen next year or in ten years’ time. I don’t want to promise anyone anything,” he told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this week.
Then came the reminder that any negotiations will have to run through north London first.
“After this season, I’ll be back as a Tottenham player; I have a contract there until 2030.”
No declarations of loyalty to Barcelona. No angling for a move. Just a teenager who knows he is tied to a long-term deal and is not about to ignite a transfer saga in April.
Barcelona’s bigger summer picture
The interest in Aslani and Vuskovic is real, but at Barcelona the boardroom agenda for the summer runs through bigger, more immediate targets.
The club’s priority list is headed by two established names: Argentine forward Julián Álvarez, 26, and Italian centre-back Alessandro Bastoni, also 26. One to sharpen the attack, one to anchor the defence. Both would walk straight into the starting XI.
That leaves Aslani and Vuskovic in an interesting bracket: monitored, admired, but not at the top of the queue.
For now, the two youngsters are exactly where they want to be—locked into the run-in with Hoffenheim and Hamburg, letting others speculate while they play. When the season finally stops, the phones will start ringing in earnest.
The question is simple: when they do, will Barcelona be calling for depth, or for the future spine of their next great side?
