Barcelona: Éric Abidal weighs up options to reinforce defence in January

Barcelona technical secretary Éric Abidal has shortlisted two new players

Barcelona’s defensive frailties have been exposed by relatively weaker sides like Leganés and Girona this season. Gerard Piqué and Samuel Umtiti haven’t been at their best. New signing Clément Lenglet has been decent, while Thomas Vermaelen has been error-prone.

But now, the issue has transformed from poor form to lack of personnel. Samuel Umtiti has a thigh problem which could potentially sideline him for the rest of the year, while Thomas Vermaelen has been ruled out for six weeks after picking up an injury while on international duty.

It is clear that Vermaelen has no future at the club, with his contract expiring at the end of the season. But Éric Abidal needs to sign his replacement in January itself, a player who could secure the short-term future of the defence for the time being.

The Frenchman has found two players from the La Liga itself who could fit the required profile: Getafe’s Togolese 26-year old centre-back Djené Dakonam and Athletic Bilbao’s 21-year academy product Unai Núñez.

Djené Dakonam was one of the best defenders in the La Liga last season, after arriving from little-known Belgian side Sint-Truiden for a fee of €2.5 million. Last summer, he was linked with a transfer to Arsenal but a move never materialised.

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The Togolese centre-back is a quintessential defender, with more classical elements in his style of play than modern ones. Djené is a brilliant tackler of the ball and likes to get physical, and is also a very good intercepter of through balls. But his passing skills are lacking.

While a Barcelona defender needs to know how to distribute the ball from the back independently, Djené can always rely on his partner to do that while he stops opposition attacks. He is also an aerial threat, and but receives frequent bookings.

With his performances for Getafe last season, Djené has attracted a lot of attention from the Premier League. But due to the fact that former Getafe sporting director Ramón Planes is assistant to Éric Abidal, the club might have an edge over the competition.

Unai Núñez is one of the brightest young talents to graduate from the Athletic Bilbao academy, and belongs to the same generation of Athletic footballers as Kepa Arrizabalaga, Unai Simón, Yeray, Unai López and Iñigo Córdoba, who will be a part of the Spain setup in the near future.

The 21-year old centre-back was handed his senior debut by Cuco Ziganda last season, who also managed him while in the youth side. He went on to make 36 appearances over the course of the season, and was called up to the Spain Under-21 side by Albert Celades.

Núñez is a good tackler of the ball, and is particularly adept at blocking shots. He is a good passer, and rarely makes decisive mistakes. Due to his height, he is a threat from corners and crosses. The youngster also has the ability to find wingers from deep inside his own box.

But newly appointed Athletic head coach Eduardo Berizzo, who prefers new signing Iñigo Martínez over Unai Núñez, in partnership with Yeray. Barcelona should be able to easily exploit this opportunity in January to snap up a young talent like Núñez.

In fact, Éric Abidal will find signing both these players to be quite easy compared to the likes of Matthijs de Ligt. But the club should go after its primary target instead of settling for players who are easier to sign, but are not the best available option.