It’s pretty obvious to everyone that Barcelona need a centre back, but there are very few who the club see as fitting their playing style, with the two more prominent names, David Luiz and Daniel Agger probably too expensive for them at this point.
According to Sport, Barcelona will go another summer without making a major addition to their defensive line, satisfied with the signing of Neymar from Santos, improving only the attack and hoping that it’ll be strong enough to overcome their defensive deficiencies.
Barcelona have been very interested in a number of players, linked to Marquinhos, who ended up with PSG, and with Thiago Silva, who decided against leaving the French champions. David Luiz and Daniel Agger seemed a little bit more accessible, but it turns out they won’t be.
Barcelona made an offer for Luiz, but Chelsea are asking for around €50 million. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a way of saying Luiz isn’t for sale, even if he would like to play for Barcelona, or this is about Jose Mourinho showing once again what a huge “fan” he is of the Catalan club. The bottom line is that Barcelona can’t afford, or simply aren’t willing to spend so much money on Luiz or a defensive player in general.
They’ve also approached Liverpool for Agger, but the Reds have been constantly declining offers for the Danish centre back for the last couple of years. Agger himself has said that he’s flattered by the interest, but he’s planning on staying with Liverpool forever. Liverpool haven’t named a price that will set Agger loose, but they’ve rejected offers worth €17 million.
So what are Barcelona left with? Gerard Pique, an aging and often injured Carles Puyol and the young Marc Bartra, while Javier Maschaerano and Alex Song, often used as centre backs as well. They can win the league title with this group, but the Champions League? It wasn’t enough last season, and probably won’t be once again.