Barcelona to bring in defender on loan in January?

Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images

The club could move if Eric Garcia isn’t signed

Barcelona are reportedly planning on bringing in a defender on loan in January for the second half of the season if they fail to land Eric Garcia from Manchester City.

Speculation suggests that Barca may now wait until the end of the season to bring Garcia back to the Camp Nou when he will be a free agent after his contract expires.

If that is the case then Barca will look for a January loan to bring in a fourth center-back to go with Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet and Ronald Araujo (there’s no mention of Samuel Umtiti at all in the report).

Barca want another center-back “in case of emergency” and to allow Ronald Koeman to rotate his backline in the second half of the campaign.

The club are looking for a low-cost option with plenty of experience and there are some interesting names on their list, according to Sport.

Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger, Liverpool’s Joel Matip and Shkodran Mustafi are all apparently possible options. Roma’s Federico Fazio, German Pezzella, and Mateo Musacchio are other names that are mentioned.

Barcelona haven’t had too much success with January signings in recent seasons, particularly when it comes to defenders. Jeison Murillo, Yerry Mina and Jean-Clair Todibo all made winter moves to the Camp Nou but struggled to make an impression at the club.

Source: barcablaugranes.com