The brass at Barcelona are considering a move for Athletic Club star Aymeric Laporte before the summer is out. This of course comes ahead of the imminent departure of Ronald Araújo from Catalunya’s capital.
The situation at the heart of Hansi Flick’s Blaugrana backline has taken a sudden, unexpected shift over the course of the last 24 hours.
After Premier League giants Liverpool touched base with their counterparts at the Camp Nou regarding a potential deal for the aforementioned Ronald Araújo, Deco and co. opened the door to a loan move.
The Uruguayan, as a result, is widely expected to spend the duration of the upcoming season plying his trade at Anfield.
Barcelona, all of a sudden, therefore look somewhat short on options in central defence. As things stand, Hansi Flick has Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, the oft-injured Andreas Christensen and academy graduate Álvaro Cortés at his disposal.
Eric García and Jules Koundé are options, too, but both appear to have been converted to full-time full-backs.
For this reason, it should come as little surprise to hear of the Blaugrana board kickstarting a fresh search for central defenders on the market. Not only that, but Deco and his team of directors are understood to have an early frontrunner in mind…
As per a report from Barca insider Víctor Navarro:
‘Barça are considering (Aymeric) Laporte as Araujo’s replacement. Deco is already studying the operation.’
Laporte, currently on the books of Athletic Club, formed a brilliant partnership with none other than Pau Cubarsí en route to Spain clinching glory at this summer’s World Cup.
Conor Laird – GSFN
