Barcelona open to signing USWNT star Megan Rapinoe

Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images

The winger has expressed interest in joining Barça in the past

FC Barcelona have signaled they are open to signing Megan Rapinoe, who shone as the player of the tournament in the last FIFA Women’s World Cup. The US national team and Seattle Reign winger has confessed she’s a Barça fan in the past and is open to joining the Catalan’s side women’s section, who are currently first in their league.

Rapinoe had said that she was looking at a possible move to Europe and that Barcelona was “number one in [her] heart.”

Maria Teixidor, the sporting director of the women’s side, has replied to the overture from Rapinoe in an interview with Goal.com, saying, “I believe we will be able to sign this type of player.”

However, Teixidor was cautious in saying that the squad was being constructed carefully to compete for the top prizes. Thus the signing is just something they seem to be open to, rather than a definitive goal they are pursuing at the moment.

Rapinoe had previously spent a season at Lyon, one of the women’s game continental superpowers. This year, he has been shortlisted to win FIFA’s The Best award for the most outstanding women’s player in the world.

Besides her considerable ability on the pitch, Rapinoe has gotten a lot of attention for her willingness to take a stand on controversial issues, something Teixidor admires.

“You have to say she has a great gift as a speaker. I almost see her as someone who has a future as a politician or an activist, and I believe that it’s good that women have the chance to use their platform to highlight real situations that today are still very hard for many women to deal with,” she said.

“I believe you have to take advantage of the platform that you are given for your ability on the pitch, it’s something that you have to do because you feel a responsibility to do so. People who have so much integrity, and who are aware that this is so important for so many people, and who assume a position of leadership, and are capable of pushing the issue, to me, they deserve all the respect in the world.”

Source: barcablaugranes.com