Barcelona are gearing up for a busy summer ahead, with the club particularly keen on shoring up their ranks in the defensive unit.
The club are yet to find a replacement for Inigo Martinez, while Ronald Araujo’s inconsistencies, coupled with Andreas Christensen’s injury problems, have not helped things.
Keeping that in mind, Barcelona are keen on finding a new centre-back who can add more depth and leadership to the table. And that is where Alessandro Bastoni comes into the fray.
Barcelona ready to fight it out for Bastoni
According to a report from Calciomercato, Bastoni is mainly a target for Arsenal, who are keen on acquiring his services at the end of the season.
However, the Italian international has also emerged as a target for Barcelona. As mentioned earlier, the Catalans are keen on defensive reinforcements, and Bastoni has been identified as the right man to strengthen their ranks at the back.
Bastoni has become a leader at Inter Milan (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
With almost 300 competitive appearances for Inter Milan, Bastoni has proven himself in Italy not only as a defender but as a leader as well.
As a left-footed centre-back capable of playing the ball out from the back, he could be a like-for-like replacement for someone like Martinez.
However, signing Bastoni from Inter Milan will not be a walk in the park for Barcelona. For one, Inter Milan have no desire to offload their star defender.
The player has a contract until 2028, meaning the Italian giants have the full leverage to negotiate for a higher fee that may rule Barcelona out of the chase.
The report adds that it could take a ‘substantial amount of money’ to sign the Italian defender, making the pursuit all the more difficult for Blaugrana.