The Italian paper claimed that Barca boss Josep Guardiola, who played alongside Toni at Italy's Brescia years ago, is reportedly trying to coax the towering hitman into joining the Catalans.

Barcelona have been seeking to bring in Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Inter Milan in a swap deal that would see Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o move in the opposite direction.

However, the European champions haven't completed the part-exchange deal yet, and apparently Guardiola started to ponder other options.

Toni, 32, joined Bayern from Fiorentina in 2007, and raised some eyebrows during his first season with the Bavarians.

However, his level plummeted last term after he was afflicted by a succession of injuries.

The Italian international's status as a regular with the Bundesliga giants has been jeopardized, after Bayern landed Mario Gomez from VfB Stuttgart.