With their attack closed, the Barça team is now working intensively on the additions of Koundé, Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso
Barca do not rest in this transfer market. Following the arrival of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and the continuity of Dembele, the Barca club must now urgently shut down players who support the defensive plot once and for all. It is an important week for Jules Koundé, Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, three targets that have been in the red for months and whose operations have entered the final phase.
“Now it’s time to work on the defence. Xavi has been targeting us with a range of players and I hope the Catalans can have a little more fun,” said Joan Laporta a day after Lewandowski’s arrival was made official. The maximum president culé is aware of the need his club has to bolster a plot that has been a real headache in recent years. Barca have been a fragile team for whom it has been too easy to give chances and last season they conceded more goals than Real Madrid, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Villarreal and Athletic in the league.
The chosen one to make a level jump in defense is Jules Koundé. The Sevilla centre-back is one of the most sought-after players on the market and in recent weeks there has been a fierce battle between Barca and Chelsea to get the player. The Londoners reached an agreement in principle with the Sevilla club for a fee of around 60 million and five in variables, an operation that has basically collapsed due to the player’s determination to carry Barca. Koundé wants to sign for Barça, he already has an agreement with the entity chaired by Joan Laporta and the only thing missing is that both teams agree on figures that can be between fixed and variable around 60 ‘kilo’.
The signing of Koundé is an absolute priority for Xavi. Tarrasa’s coach thinks it’s essential to count on the French central defender forming a three-way back with Ronald Araujo, Christensen, Eric García and Gerard Pique, who downgraded his participation as the coach warned him at the time. “I can’t make progress. If there is another one, it will add up. The more the better. There will be a lot of games this year,” Xavi said of the arrival of more central defenders after the Las Vegas classic.
The Sevilla centre-back isn’t the only challenge Barca will be setting themselves in the coming days. The Catalans have been working for months on a battle of attrition with Chelsea to take on Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso, two ‘cheap’ footballers but who can contribute a lot to the defence, according to Xavi. The versatile Navarrese defender, who likes him for his seniority and experience, has seen negotiations stalled because of the difficulty of the ‘blues’ to bring in Koundé, his natural replacement. In the left-back’s case, the biggest stumbling block is the £12million that Chelsea are asking, an amount the board hopes to cut to bring in a player who may be the coveted alternative to Jordi Alba in the job’s position left-handed.
The arrivals section isn’t the only one concerned about Can Barça’s defensive plot. The culés started the summer with the aim of finding a way out for Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti and Óscar Mingueza. At the moment, only the first, on loan to Tottenham until the end of the season, has found a destination, while in the other two, operations have stalled and are so concerned that a possible contract termination is being considered to make room for new registrations.
Neither of them traveled to the United States with the rest of the expedition, and the club is still trying to find a way out for them. Clubs like Celta de Vigo, Monza, Hoffenheim or Genoa have been associated with Mingueza, but none of these options came to fruition and this has ultimately left Barça impatient as the time approaches them.
Umtiti’s case is even more worrying. Barça had practically closed off his departure to Rennes, but the French team withdrew at the last minute due to doubts about their physical condition and at the moment Turkey could be the alternative to release a player whose salary, although it was reduced to 2.7 million a year when it was revamped until 2026, it remains a difficult mountain to climb for its suitors.
Source: La Verdad
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