Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte is Barcelona’s Plan B for the January transfer window if they cannot sign Inigo Martinez.
That’s according to Sport, who say the Blaugrana club are ‘pushing the idea of Laporte’ as he is a player that Xavi and his coaches ‘like very much’.
They explain that Xavi has already warned the club that the departure of Gerard Piqué, who retired five days ago, may necessitate a change in the club’s plans and the arrival of a new centre-back in January.
The ‘clear priority’ is Athletic defender Martinez, who they had been eyeing on a free transfer next summer when his contract comes to an end.
They could now try and push that move forward in January for a low cost deal but if that were to get complicated, they are ‘still interested’ in Laporte as a Plan B.
The club’s coaches like him a lot and he is considered the perfect age to ‘make an investment’. He’s been on the club’s radar for a while but after six years with Manchester City he would now ‘welcome a change of scenery’.
He was attracted to a move to the Camp Nou last year but it was impossible to reach an economic agreement with Manchester City, nor was a swap deal possible.
He is a more expensive option than Martinez but is a signing that would be made with ‘more weight’ and thus worth it.
Whether City would sanction a deal remains to be seen but the Spaniard is very much a Plan B if Martinez proves difficult to sign in January.
