Barcelona are reportedly looking at three Premier League-based defenders as they consider strengthening at the back in the January transfer window.
The Catalan giants are being linked with Liverpool’s Joel Matip, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Arsenal’s Shkodran Mustafi by Spanish publication Sport.
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It will be interesting to see if any of these deals come to anything, though we imagine Liverpool won’t be at all keen to let a key player like Matip go, especially with their current injury problems in defence.
Matip has had his fitness struggles in his time at Anfield, but has shown himself to be an important part of the squad when he is available to play.
He’ll be even more important to Liverpool now as they deal with the injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, which have left them very light at the back.
Chelsea, meanwhile, might be more open to letting Rudiger join Barcelona as he’s struggled to make much of a positive impact at Stamford Bridge in recent times, so may be surplus to requirements.
The same could definitely be said of Mustafi at Arsenal, with the Gunners doing well to strengthen with the signing of Gabriel Magalhaes in the summer, pushing Mustafi further down the pecking order after his poor form.
Barca fans might not be too blown away by these targets, however, with Matip the only one who’d really improve Ronald Koeman’s side, whilst being the least realistic of the three targets.