Barcelona eye Lazio defender as January reinforcement

Spanish outlet, Mundo Deportivo has confirmed Barcelona’s interest in bringing in a new forward and new defender. While the forward has been sorted and Ferran Torres has officially joined the club, the defender situation is a bit trickier. The main problem for the Catalans at the moment is that they have a lot of centre-backs as it is. Barcelona currently has the likes of Eric Garcia, Samuel Umtiti, Clement Lenglet, Gerard Pique, and Ronald Araujo in the squad however, only one of them is a viable player at the moment. Thus, they do require a new defender but they must sell some of their current players in order to bring new players in.

One of the ways Barcelona has been saving their costs is by going for players who are running out of contracts. It has already been reported that the Catalans are going after players such as Cesar Azpilicueta and Andreas Christensen.

Barcelona look to secure Lazio centre-back

They have now reportedly also eyed up Lazio youngster Luiz Felipe. The Brazilian centre-back has been in Lazio since 2016 and he has grown over the period of time via good coaching and a loan move away to Salernitana. He is now a regular for the Italian club at the age of 24 and he is yet to enter his prime.

Felipe might be an unknown name to many Barcelona fans however, he is a well-respected centre-back in Serie A and has played for the Brazilian U23 team. He is a traditional defender who relies on his great heading ability, positioning and interception plays. He rarely goes for a sensational tackle that could hurt his team and he loves to play out from the back. His passing is accurate as well, which is a bonus as Xavi likes to play out from the back as well and his footwork is great as well, which allows him to take a few extra touches before distributing the ball. He would be a good addition to the team however, reports suggest that teams like Real Betis are also interested in the player.

Should Barca sign Luiz Felipe?