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Chelsea enter race for Barcelona target Ivan Fresneda

By David Wyatt-Hupton

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 04: Chelsea club badge atop the main entrance of the West Stand prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on April 04, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 04: Chelsea club badge atop the main entrance of the West Stand prior to the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on April 04, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images) /
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Last week Barcelona made an €18 million bid for Valladolid right-back Ivan Fresneda, which was rejected, as of today they’ve not improved their offer.

According to a report in AS, Premier League side Chelsea is interested in the 18-year-old defender and is ready to enter a bid any day now, with Barcelona potentially missing out as they work to sort their finances.

As reported earlier today, the La Liga champions have thus far only registered 13 players for the new season, and two of those players (Dembele & Kessie) are expected to leave the club before Sunday’s game against Getafe.

Whether it’s the financial state of the club or the indecision over Fresneda causing the delay, there’s a good chance that Barca may miss out on the Valladolid man.

Right-back continues to be a point of contention within Barca management

For one reason or another, Barcelona have never found the solution to their right-back problem ever since Dani Alves left back in 2016. They’ve had some patchwork solutions, but in terms of long-term answers, the search goes on.

When the club signed Sergino Dest from Ajax back in 2020, the hope was that he’d be the starting right-back for years to come, but sometimes things don’t work out.

Last year the club muddled through with centre-back Jules Kounde playing out of position down the right, so far through the pre-season, it’s been centre-back, Ronald Araujo, with Sergino Dest proving that he’s not the answer with some lacklustre performances.

According to reports in the Spanish media, there is a lot of indecision within the Barca ranks on who they should prioritise to fill the void. Deco wants Fresneda, Xavi wants Cancelo and Jeremie Frimpong’s name even cropped up earlier this week.

That indecision could lead to Barcelona missing out on Fresneda who is almost certainly going to leave relegated Valladolid.

Right now there is little movement for Barcelona, who seem to be waiting for that first domino to fall before they continue their off-season planning.

That first domino is expected to be Franck Kessie, who reportedly will complete his move to Saudi Arabia at some point today before the Joan Gamper Trophy against Tottenham.

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