Rafa Mir to Barcelona rumour: Who Wolves could be offered in exchange

Wolverhampton Wanderers are finalising their pre-season preparations at the moment. Meanwhile, Rafa Mir has exchanged this to star for his country at the Tokyo Olympics and could soon be on his way to Barcelona.

The Spanish striker is getting a lot of attention in his homeland after scoring a hat-trick to send La Roja into the semi-finals.

In a report on Spanish news outlet Sport, it has been claimed that Mir may go to Barcelona in exchange for one of their players.

Speaking about his future, Mir told AS that it remains unclear but that “things are happening.”

Here is a list of three Blaugrana players who we think could begin this season at Molineux and could be involved in an exchange deal.

1. Clement Lenglet

Arguably the biggest name featured on this list. Clement Lenglet has struggled for consistency and may find himself down Barca’s pecking order for the new season.

This summer, Lenglet’s club have added fellow centre half Eric Garcia to their ranks. Additionally, Football Espana reported that Barcelona may loan out Lenglet this season. Everton and West Ham United have both expressed interest.

Wolves’ dire need for a centre-back has been exacerbated by injuries to Yerson Mosquera and Willy Boly. The arrival of a household name like Lenglet in exchange for Mir could be Wolves’ best deal from this transaction.

2. Riqui Puig

Overshadowed by the emergence of Spanish starlet Pedri, Riqui Puig is a La Masia product who has gone slightly unnoticed outside of Spain.

The 21-year-old diminutive midfielder has struggled to get regular game time for the senior side. Over the previous two seasons, he has featured only 25 times.

Puig is blessed with natural ability, and if Wolves are to lose Ruben Neves the Spaniard may relish the opportunity to fill that midfield void.

Furthermore, Puig is not currently a preferred choice for Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman. Unfortunately for Wolves, it seems the midfielder still has very lofty ambitions, saying he’d only ‘leave Barcelona for Man City’.

3. Martin Braithwaite

It was only a fortnight ago Sport reported that Martin Braithwaite was on the radar of Wolves

His agent, though, rubbished those rumours shortly afterwards.

Fast-forward two week, and the Danish striker’s future still seems up in the air.

Braithwaite had an excellent Euro 2020. An exchange for him with Mir would see Wolves maintain the same number of strikers in and around the first-team side. It must be acknowledged that the Denmark international can also play out wide.

There might be concerns that some players at the Nou Camp may see the move to Wolves as a step down. Yet with Semedo and Trincao making bright starts to their career at the club, it could only help this blossoming trend to continue.