Barcelona have reportedly made the first contacts in order to sign the Chelsea fullback César Azpilicueta.
According to Guillem Balagué, writing for Spanish newspaper AS, Chelsea are asking €18m for the Spaniard, who would be Barça’s plan b for the position. The contact is with the player, rather than Chelsea.
The Catalan club’s first intention was to sign Héctor Bellerín from Arsenal. However, despite being confident that they could reach a deal with the player, the Gunners are not willing to let him go this summer.
Antonio Conte reportedly sees Azpilicueta as an important piece of the squad, since the 26-year-old can play on both the left and the right.
On the other hand, Barça are not content with Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto, and subsequently the club are also looking for someone to be ready to replace Jordi Alba when needed.
If we take into consideration that he’s also been linked to Manchester United, Azpilicueta is probably the most unexpected market star of the summer.