The slap suffered at Chelsea on Tuesday in the Champions League (3-0) shed more light than ever on Barça’s shortcomings and needs in defense. In their last two C1 matches played alone (with the 3-3 conceded against Bruges), Hansi Flick’s men have conceded 6 goals (they have the second worst defense in the top 24 with 10 goals conceded). The defeats against PSG (2-1) and Real Madird (2-1) also reminded us of the extent to which last season’s managers were in trouble today.
This is the case of Jules Koundé, in great difficulty since the start of the season, and again singled out for his failed performance against the Blues this week. And what about Ronald Araujo, sent off for a catastrophic tackle on Marc Cucurella 50 meters from his goal. Excellent last season, Pau Cubarsi also showed certain limits against the Estevao phenomenon, which gave him a nightmare.
Ambitious tracks
Hansi Flick measures better than anyone the projects awaiting his management in view of the next two transfer windows. To believe Mundo Deportivothe German technician would have formulated three priority requests: a central defender, a winger and an attacker. For the moment, it is mainly in defense that several avenues have surfaced. According to the Catalan media, Barça is tracking the Portuguese international from Sporting, Goncalo Inacio.
Referenced as a great hope in his position in Portugal, the 24-year-old has an estimated price of around 40 million euros. Dortmund’s German defender Nico Schlotterbeck is also a prospect studied by Deco, but the Catalan sporting director will have to face competition from Bayern Munich (his price would also be around 40 million euros). Same story for Marc Guehi, free next summer and ardently courted by Barça… but also Liverpool. Two other tracks have also gained ground internally in recent days: that leading to Nottingham Forest’s Brazilian international, Murillo, and the promising Brazilian Luis Benedetti, 19, who plays for Palmeiras and would not cost much in transfer compensation.
