Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi linked with "shock" Barcelona swap deal

f you opened this article thinking the title was a bit dramatic, I honestly wouldn’t be able to fault you, except for the fact that the use of the word “shock” is in no small measure what I’d feel if reports coming out of Spain were to come to fruition. According to Fichajes via Sport, Karim Adeyemi is being linked with a move to Barcelona.

This in itself isn’t really all that shocking. Hansi Flick has set the tone for his style of play at Barcelona, with the former Bayern and Germany head coach revitalizing the Catalan club and making them an attractive, forward-thinking side. Adeyemi, on his part, was on fire for Dortmund before his injury which has kept him sidelined for eight games now.

The shock in all this comes at the suggestion that to facilitate a deal, Barcelona intends to "bait" Dortmund into a deal by providing Ferran Torres in return in order to lower the monetary sum they’d have to pay for the young German attacker. In eight appearances so far this season, Torres has scored one goal and provided two assists.

A full-fledged Spanish international now, there was a time when Dortmund was reportedly interested in Torres prior to his move to Manchester City from Valencia back in the summer of 2020. Any interest now in the 24-year-old winger, who hasn’t turned into the prolific player he was expected to become prior to the move, would be bewildering, particularly because Adeyemi himself has been coming into his own this season and was involved in a large portion of what Dortmund did right on the pitch prior to his injury.

That, coupled with the fact that any one of Dortmund’s attackers being linked with Barcelona brings back sour memories of Ousmane Dembele’s exit, makes me very hopeful that Dortmund would stray away from cashing in on Adeyemi in this fashion. His current contract runs until 2027, which means Dortmund doesn't have to be in any rush to think about any potential exit if the club doesn’t want to.

As for Adeyemi himself, the young German player seems happy enough with Dortmund. The former RB Salzburg attacker downplayed links to Juventus over the summer, stating that he was indeed content playing in Dortmund. The hope would be that after the injury he suffered has fully mended, he can come back and continue to be an integral part of Dortmund’s project from an attacking standpoint, with nonsensical rumors such as this fizzling out in the process.