Barcelona have reportedly been handed a boost on the transfer market as they could have a clear run at Paris Saint-Germain left-back Layvin Kurzawa.
The 27-year-old has made 23 appearances for the reigning Ligue 1 champions so far this season, but his current contract expires in the summer which in turn has raised doubts over his future in the French capital.
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As noted by respected Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio in his tweet below, Kurzawa was close to moving to Juventus in a swap deal involving Matteo De Sciglio in January, but the move eventually fell through.
Saltato lo scambio #DeSciglio–#Kurzawa tra @juventusfc e @PSG_inside #calciomercato @SkySport
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) January 28, 2020
Now, Goal Italy reports that Juventus are moving further away from swooping for the French international and are expected to look at Luca Pellegrini as being their solution to offer competition for Alex Sandro.
In turn, that opens up the opportunity for Barcelona who are now seemingly in pole position to land Kurzawa as they prepare for what is described as the ‘final sprint’, while they look to keep spending at a minimum to focus their attention on Neymar, as per the report above.
It’s added that they have been in talks with the player’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, in recent days, and they are ready to step up their pursuit and get a deal done with Kurzawa being touted as a possible replacement for Junior Firpo as he could be offloaded to raise funds.
That is something that is also touted by AS, with the left-back seemingly set to be axed.
It’s arguably a sensible strategy from the Catalan giants, as they are keeping themselves well covered at left-back by bringing in Kurzawa on a free to offer depth behind Jordi Alba while cashing in on Firpo.
That in turn could set them up to be in a stronger position to fund a move for Neymar, but it remains to be seen if all the pieces fall into place as it is still a pretty ambitious plan.