Arsene Wenger finds the prospect of Barcelona playing in the Premier League interesting

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has welcomed the prospect of Barcelona joining the Premier League in the future, although he admits that their presence would make it a lot tougher for other clubs.

The political instability in the Catalonia region reached its threshold on Sunday after the Spanish government tried to stop people from voting towards the independence referendum.

Barcelona have plyed their trade in the Spanish La Liga since its inception, but there are suggestions that the Catalan independence could see them break away from the competition.

Speaking to reporters, Wenger was open to the idea of having Barcelona in England's top-flight, although he believes that teams from Scotland - namely Celtic and Rangers should be invited first, should such a situation arise.

"I'd try to learn Catalan!. If Barcelona want to join the Premier League, it makes things even more difficult for everybody. But I don't think they have gotten as far as that. It is interesting and there will be incidents on the sporting side as Barcelona are a highly political club," he is quoted as saying by The Express.

"I think it will be interesting to see how they respond in the championship. We have enough clubs here with 20 but if you want to go up to 24, we have to invite the Scottish clubs before we go for the Spanish." 

With the violence outside the Camp Nou, Barcelona opted to play in an empty stadium on Sunday where they beat Las Palmas by a 3-0 scoreline.

The La Liga leaders had requested the game to be postponed to a further date, but the Spanish authorities clarified that they had to take the field or risk a deduction of at least six points.