Barcelona look to cash-in on Manchester City’s major crisis
The two year Champions League ban is doing no good to the team morale at Manchester City and many players are reported to be looking for an exit.
Among the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, stands the star defender, Aymeric Laporte who is being eyed by various clubs. As per the Express, Barcelona are looking to land the former Athletic Bilbao central defender in a bid to strengthen their defence which has looked pretty much off colour this season.
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The ban is said to be two years long and the Citizens are likely to appeal against the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, having said that, it must be noted that they won’t be able to appeal before August. The group stages will be in full flow by the time their appeal receives a verdict and the Premier League giants might be forced to watch the European tournaments from the sidelines this time around.
The likes of Sterling and de Bruyne are being heavily linked to a move to Real Madrid and under the current circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic in a steep rise in the UK, one could possibly see these moves materialising.
Barcelona need some fresh blood at the back of the field as their once first choice defender in Samuel Umtiti is now struggling to find enough playtime owing to injuries and Gerard Pique hasn’t been at his very best, the likely cause being age factor.
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Barcelona need to find a replacement for Pique and Laporte seems to be a good fit. The 25 year-old is a key part of Pep Guardiola’s plans and that is enough to bear a testimony to the quality that he possesses. He is a like-to-like replacement for Pique with almost all similar attributes and Barcelona should act quickly on this.