Barcelona’s financial issues have led the club to trawl the market in search of free agents, with Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia both joining on free transfers from Manchester City, while Aymeric Laporte has also attracted interest from the Catalan side.
The former Athletic Club centre-back has officially received a Spanish citizenship and was called up by Luis Enrique to participate in the 2020 European Championship with Spain, despite having previously played for France’s youth sides.
Falling behind in Guardiola’s pecking order
Laporte joined Manchester City in January 2018 after the Sky Blues triggered his buyout clause to lure him out of Athletic Club.
In his first full season under Pep Guardiola he established himself into the team’s starting line-up and featured in as many as 51 games across all competitions.
However, a knee injury prevented him from making an impact in 2019/20 and following Ruben Dias‘ arrival last summer, Laporte became the third-choice centre-back behind the Portuguese defender and John Stones, as Manchester City cruised all the way to Premier League success last season.
Another transfer target from Manchester City
The relationship between Barcelona and Manchester City seems to have improved following Joan Laporta‘s return to the Blaugrana’s presidency.
In fact, Barcelona asked for City’s permission to present Aguero and Garcia last week, despite both being officially contracted to the Premier League champions until the end of June.
The Catalan side had previously attempted to sign Garcia both last summer and in January, as his contract was set to come to an end in June, but no deal was reached with the Sky Blues.
Meanwhile, after parting ways with Luis Suarez back in September, Barcelona disputed the 2020/21 season with just one natural striker in the squad, in Martin Braithwaite.
Hence, the club decided to make a move for Aguero, whose contract with Manchester City also ran until the end of June and who will now join forces with his Argentina teammate and close friend Lionel Messi at the Blaugrana.
Barcelona’s struggles in defence last season could see the club moving for another centre-back to further strengthen their defence ahead of next season.
Ronald Koeman currently has the likes of Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza and Garcia at his disposal but a potential centre-back departure this summer has not been ruled out.
