Concern levels at Inter could rise as Barcelona are reportedly considering a big-money January offer to try and prise Milan Skriniar away from the San Siro.
The Catalan giants haven’t had the start to the La Liga season that they’d hoped for, regardless of the fact that they remain top of the table after seven games.
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Currently on a three-game winless streak, they’ve conceded eight goals in those seven outings and were rocked last week by an injury setback suffered by Samuel Umtiti, with AS noting that the French international could be out for some time with a knee problem.
That’s not good news for coach Ernesto Valverde, as although summer signing Clement Lenglet will likely now have the opportunity to prove himself alongside Gerard Pique, the Spanish stalwart hasn’t been in the greatest of form so far this season.
Further, with veteran Thomas Vermaelen as back-up, Barcelona don’t look particularly strong in that department which could end up costing them as the season goes on if Umtiti remains sidelined.
According to Sportmediaset, they could look to address the issue in January as they’ve been tipped to make a whopping €84m bid for Inter centre-half Skriniar. As per Calciomercato, this isn’t the first time the two parties have been linked with talks said to have even started.
The 23-year-old was a fundamental part of Luciano Spalletti’s side last season as they secured a return to the Champions League while he has been an almost ever-present so far this year.
With that in mind, it seems unlikely that Inter would even entertain the idea of letting him leave given his importance to the team, but should a whopping €84m bid arrive in the New Year, it remains to be seen if that’s enough to test Inter’s resolve and potentially open the door for a sale if the player is keen to move on.
That seems to be a long way off for now, but what is clear is that Barcelona may well need another defensive signing to shore up their backline both in the short-term in Umtiti’s absence and beyond.