Barcelona managed to keep yet another La Liga side at bay to win all three points, albeit with the help of Ronald Araújo’s last-ditch tackle that led to a red card. The 1-0 win over Valencia extended their lead to 9 points in the title race.
Marc-André ter Stegen’s 18th clean sheet of the league season once again highlighted Barcelona’s defensive resilience under Xavi. Jules Kounde, despite his mistake at Valencia, Andreas Christensen and Araújo have all been brilliant this season.
As such, not many Barca fans are expecting the club to invest in a new center-back come the end of the season, especially considering that their goal scoring-record and control in the middle of the park (or lack thereof) have left a lot to be desired.
But the latest transfer report from Fernando Polo (via Reshad Rahman), suggests that Barcelona are going to sign another center-back this summer.
Barcelona working on signing Premier League star – he’s ready to join
It is understood that Aymeric Laporte wants to leave Manchester City and join the Blaugrana. The Spain international has seldom started under Pep Guardiola this season, with both Ruben Dias and John Stones preferred ahead of him.
Initial contacts have already taken place between the Spanish outfit and Laporte, who is admired by Xavi. The development with the 28-year-old has lowered the La Liga leaders’ interest in Iñigo Martínez.
Although Barcelona are interested, any further progress in this transfer saga will largely depend on City’s asking price. Barcelona will only sign him for a reasonable fee. Financial fair play rules will also have a say in the Catalan giants’ approach.
As such, interest in Laporte makes little sense. If Barcelona are looking for depth in defense, they should try to secure Martínez. Christensen’s impact since his arrival from Chelsea has proved a free transfer can be a masterstroke.