Barcelona scout Porto’s Eder Militao
The young Brazilian defender has impressed since joining from Sao Paulo in the summer.
Barcelona’s lack of depth in the centre-back area has been exposed this season due to Samuel Umtiti’s injury issues that refuse to go away and could see him miss the majority of the rest of the season if he opts to have surgery. Thomas Vermaelen is an injury-prone fourth choice option and Gerard Pique is the only senior right-footed centre-back in the team.
This issue has put Barcelona in a tight spot because they are heavily interested in bringing Matthijs de Ligt to the club in the summer, but not reinforcing this area in January could see them exposed due to having to rely on B team players. Therefore, they are looking at potential targets who could be brought in during the next transfer window.
According to Sport, Barca sent scouts to watch Militao play in the local derby against Boavista. His adjustment to the Portuguese league has been quick and he has already made one of the starting spots his own as well as featuring in all the Champions League matches so far. He was even rewarded for his recent form with a call-up to and debut for the Brazilian national team by Tite. His contract doesn’t run out until 2023 and his potential means a big fee will be required to pry him away.
At Sao Paulo, he played as a right-back so he is a versatile option as well which is always a useful asset for a team. This would provide the option of having a back four defence which becomes a back three in possession with Jordi Alba making his usual forward runs. Militao’s recovery ability, strength, tackling and clever use of his body positioning mean he is well suited to playing in a high defensive line such as Barcelona’s while also being composed on the ball, although he will need to work on breaking through opposition lines with his passing.
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They can’t afford to miss out on De Ligt, though, so if they sign Militao or someone else in January then they may have to change formation in order to make use of these players. Ernesto Valverde seems likely to leave in the summer, so Quique Setien would be the ideal candidate due to his positional play philosophy as well as his use of a 3-5-2 system at Real Betis.