FC Barcelona’s defence has been in chaos in the last few seasons. Their defence slowly deteriorated after the 2014-15 season when they last won the Champions League. Since then, Gerard Pique’s performance has been not at best, and Samuel Umtiti, the defender who was considered to be the future, got injured. The Frenchman is not even a substitute in the recent matches for the Catalan club.
Barcelona’s financial crisis is stopping them from spending a lot of money to buy a world-class defender. There were rumours that Barca will try to add a defender to their squad in the winter transfer window. But Barcelona manager Xavi is reportedly prioritizing the attack over any defensive moves this winter. The boss believes that signing a striker and winger would make the club better in the short term than a full-back or a defender.
So, Barcelona will surely make some moves in the summer, and they will be looking at the defenders who will be free agents at the end of this season. According to the reported rumours, there are three targets for the club, and all those players will be free agents by June. They are Niklas Sule, Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen.
Oliver Kahn, Bayern’s CEO, has spoken about Niklas Sule and confirmed that he would leave after turning down a new contract offer at the Allianz Arena.
“The negotiations with Niklas dragged on for a very long time. We made him an offer. He didn’t accept it. He wants to leave the club at the end of the season,” he said.
Niklas Sule is said to prefer a move to England, but with Barcelona, he would probably get a place in the starting XI, and La Liga will be more comfortable for him than the English Premier League.
Barcelona is confident of signing Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta on a free transfer this summer. Keen to add quality and experience to their backline, Barcelona has made Azpilicueta a top target for the summer transfer window. Xavi is fighting hard to complete the deal, which would go through when his deal expires in June.
Barcelona’s third target is also from Chelsea. According to reports, Andreas Christensen wants a new challenge and has communicated this to Chelsea as Barcelona and Bayern Munich are interested in securing his signature on a free transfer.
The 25-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and looks increasingly like departing Chelsea. Barcelona is open to the prospect of signing the Danish centre-back on a free transfer as they look to rebuild.
