Barcelona pursuit of defender cools down due to wage demands

Barcelona have plans to sign a new central defender in 2026, with someone potentially coming in as soon as January. A number of candidates are being considered, with the pursuit being led by the club’s sporting director, Deco.

The recent injury to Andreas Christensen, which is expected to see him sidelined for at least four months, has left Barcelona short of options in the centre-back department, especially since there are doubts over when Ronald Araujo will make his return from a club-approved period of absence. The desire is there to sign someone in January, but it may end up being a temporary fix before bringing in an ideal target in the summer.

Deco is working on both situations, and above, his preferred player to bring to Barcelona is Marc Guehi. The Crystal Palace defender will become a free agent at the end of the season after making it clear that he has no plans to sign a new Crystal Palace contract, which would make him an ideal market opportunity for the Catalans.

However, the chances of Barcelona signing Guehi have taken a hit, with MD reporting that the club’s interest has cooled down. The England international has much more financially-lucrative offers from Liverpool and Bayern Munich, and as such, this has seen talks with his representatives having been put on hold.

Who are Barcelona’s options if they miss out on Guehi?

It’s also reported that Guehi wants to make a decision on his future relatively soon, which would dent Barcelona’s hopes even more. As such, they may have to consider other options, which at this stage, include the likes of Nico Schlotterbeck and Pau Torres.

It will be interesting to see who Barcelona get as their centre-back signing, but it is clear that Deco and his staff cannot afford to make the wrong decision on this one, given the position’s importance.

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