Barcelona Keen to Sell Alex Song

Barcelona are so desperate to cash in on midfielder Alex Song that they have reduced his asking price to £12m, reports in Spain claim.

The Catalans are conducting a huge summer overhaul after a season without silverware and have already spent around £100m on Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Claudio Bravo, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez so need to sell players to fund the new additions.

Having already sold both Cesc Fabregas to Chelsea and Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal, their next target is to find a team for Song.

New manager Luis Enrique wants Javier Mascherano to regain his position as a midfielder following his World Cup performances with Argentina in that role - even though he has played as centre-back during the last three seasons at the Camp Nou.

And with Spanish international Sergio Busquets in the starting line-up, the Catalans urged Song's agent to seek a move away for him this summer.

Recent reports claimed that Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton, Inter Milan and Napoli have expressed interest, but Mundo Deportivo claims that no one has yet made a formal bid to secure his services.

At the beginning of the summer, Barcelona touted his services to a number of suitors asking for at least the £16m they paid to Arsenal in 2012 to secure his services.

However, Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona are now ready to listen to offers of less than £12m.

Arsene Wenger is looking for a long-term replacement to Mikel Arteta and even though he has been linked to Sami Khedira, he may consider Song as the cheaper alternative.

Nevertheless, the 26-year-old grew into a pivotal player for the Gunners during his seven seasons in north London - starting 34 Premier League games in his last season at Arsenal.

Meanwhile, United have already signed playmaker Ander Herrera and left-back Luke Shaw, but Louis van Gaal is also understood to be in the market for a holding midfielder.