Signing a central defender still remains a top priority for Barcelona and Tito Vilanova along with his coaches at Barca still prefer Thiago Silva. As we have said this week due to the refusal of PSG to sell Silva, the obligation of the Catalan club is not to close the doors of opportunity that still exist in case of not being able to sign the man from PSG. The list of alternatives is ready if they need it, but having signed Neymar already, Barca are not in a hurry to throw in the towel over Thiago Silva.
At the moment, it looks like Thiago Silva will not be fulfilling his “dream of playing for Barça”, as he himself has acknowledged this week, but it also looks like being a long summer and the Brazilian won’t be the first player to cause anxiety for clubs interested in signing players.
As for Thiago, Tito is willing to accept that the Brazilian would be his last signing. At present, the PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is busy airing his views on almost a daily basis that Thiago Silva is not for sale, which seems a to be a cause for concern. Al-Khelaifi reiterated that Thiago “will be with us next season and he’s priceless”. PSG expects Thiago to show up for work between 22nd and 25th July. If at the end there is no progress, the Catalan club will have to resort to plan B.
Iñigo Martínez – Real Sociedad
In Tito Vilanova’s plan B is a name that has been underlined. From La Liga, the most convincing central defender in terms of quality and projection is Inigo Martinez of Real Sociedad. However, in February, the player extended his contract, which takes him up to 2017 with a buyout clause of 30M euros. The economic situation of Real Sociedad is much more flattering than a few years ago and, today, they are not regarded as a club that sell off their players. The Champions League matches that they face could make a difference: if they fail, then Real Sociedad may be tempted to sell him. Tito likes Iñigo Martínez for his strength, his ball striking ability and the fact that he’s a lefty.
David Luiz – Chelsea
Brazilian David Luiz’s style is full of virtue and has obvious strengths that make him a very interesting signing, but the player has defects that obviously cool Barca’s interest. Fast, strong, brave, powerful in the air, a great scorer and set piece taker sometimes suffers forgetfulness and lapses in concentration that mars his overall grade. He has not committed these errors in the recent Confederations cup, where he regained his centre position alongside Thiago Silva after Rafa Benitez had moved him up to midfield at Chelsea. At 26 years old and under contract until 2017, sources in England say that Jose Mourinho does not trust David Luiz and is thinking about off loading him for around 25-30M euros, according to the British press.
Daniel Agger – Liverpool
A central defender without the glamour of Brazilians Thiago Silva and David Luiz, but with an unquestionable reputation among his peers is Daniel Agger. The 28-year-old Danish defender has extensive experience in the Anfield club and had his contract renewed at the end of last year to take him up to 2016. He’s complete, technical, strong and a great passer of the ball thanks to his tall 1m 89cm frame. He is not a player who likes to take risks with the ball and this quality of playing the ball out from the back instead of booting it up field is just one of his qualities that have had the Barca scouts monitoring him with consistently positive reviews. Daniel Agger would cost Barcelona more than 15M euros.
Marquinhos – Roma
Betting on Marquinhos would have us believe that, by his qualities, he will end up being a future Thiago Silva. Barca would have a hard job experimenting with Marquinhos when they are forced to pay a transfer fee of around 25M euros. It’s far too much money for a 19 year old defender who arrived from Brazil last summer to Rome for just 3.5 M euros and has just completed one season in the Italian Serie A. Marquinhos strengths are: speed, aggressiveness, intuition and a sixth sense that lets him abort tackles before they get too dangerous. His distinct lack of experience is the worst handicap hurdle seen from the perspective of the Catalan giants.
Adil Rami – Valencia
Adil Rami is by far the cheapest option in which to strengthen the Barcelona defense. The 27-year-old French international has two seasons left on his current contract with Valencia, but has been the protagonist of a very busy summer because his club is in need of money. He has been open to offers but none of them, including one from Napoli reached the 12M Euros as requested by Valencia. Adil Rami must rejoin the club on 10th July. To the player’s credit, he has a similar style to that of Carles Puyol. He’s a powerful marker, aggressive and great in the air. Against him, we can say that Adil Rami occasionally loses concentration and lacks finesse.
Video: Daniel Agger, the Danish wall
barca need to strenghten his defence line up next season to mark a complete team against any team in europe.
Iam nat sayed enything
In as much as FC Barcelona deems it fit to strengthen its defence @ d moment, the club should also lay a foundation that can stand the test of time. I am of the opinion that Marquinhos is d best bet as the player is very young,agile and alert. We don’t need this season alone, we want to remain the best. There is a very little difference between Thiago Silva and this young player. Meanwhile, he has people like Dani Alves, Pique or Masquerano to put him in order while on d field of play.
Barcelona must buy 2 defenders our defence is very poor
N?ce one h?s good
19yr old better, but again Silva. I think the club must just get both then we r warm nd dry
Barca is a great team but the only thing we need is keeper so that we can move on.