Thomas Meunier
Barcelona are in the winter transfer market in the hopes of reinforcing the rest of their squad following a difficult first-half of the season.
They have been eliminated from the Champions League, which means the club is running behind on the financial front of things. Further, as injuries galore, the team has a lot of gaping holes that need to be filled in the hopes that the season does not get worse.
One of the positions Barcelona need to reinforce is right-back. The Catalans signed Hector Bellerin in the summer, but the Spaniard has not provided adequate cover in the role, leaving Xavi to use Jules Kounde in that position more often than not.
As such, Barça have been tracking a fair few players, one of whom is Thomas Meunier. The Belgian was linked to a Camp Nou switch in the summer as well, but the move failed to transpire.
Ahead of the winter window now, Borussia Dortmund have already informed Barcelona that they have no plans of selling Meunier, as per a report by SPORT. That said, they are open to letting him go in the summer.
His contract clocks up in 2024, and he could be available at a slashed price should Barcelona try to pursue him next summer.
The current right-back transfer plan for Barcelona is to sell Sergino Dest, who is currently on loan at AC Milan, while not renewing Sergi Roberto. This would, ideally, open up two spots at right-back, one of which can be fulfilled by Meunier, who is expected to cost €6 million.
Barcelona believe that his profile resembled Cesar Azpilicueta’s, who was Xavi’s top priority in the summer transfer window. The Chelsea captain ended up renewing his contract for two more seasons, though.
After that, the club was chasing Villarreal’s Juan Foyth, who picked up a serious injury just before the World Cup. And while Barça still have him on their radar, his asking price could well be out of just budget.
[Source: barcauniversal.com]