Barcelona full back Aleix Vidal, who has been used sparingly by manager Luis Enrique, has emerged as a possible January transfer target for Italian giants Inter Milan.
Barcelona had initially brought in the Spaniard from Sevilla with the hope that he would take on Dani Alves’ mantle and fill the void left by the Brazilian legend. But after Alves left for Juventus in the summer, Barcelona went on an unsuccessful hunt for a top quality right-back. They were linked with a number of players in that position, including Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin, Napoli’s Elseid Hysaj and Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta, but none of the moves materialised.
According to Calciomercato, Inter Milan see Vidal as a possible January transfer target. With Enrique not calling him up to the squad anymore, he will likely want to leave the Nou Camp in search of more game time.
Enrique has chosen to play Sergi Roberto, who is originally a central midfielder, in that right-back spot and that would likely not have gone down too well with Vidal. Sergi Roberto has been starting all recent games at right-back, and the fact that he was used there against a title contender like Atletico Madrid suggests Luis Enrique has no immediate plans for changing his setup.
Since joining Barcelona from Sevilla in the summer of 2015, Aleix Vidal’s Barcelona journey hasn’t gone as well as he would have liked. The 27-year-old only made his debut in January this year due to the transfer embargo placed on Barcelona. But after making only 14 appearances last season, he has fallen out of favour with Luis Enrique this season and has been dropped from most of their matches.
Inter Milan had reportedly tried to sign him last summer and Nerazzurri chief Piero Ausilio is still in touch with the stakeholders responsible for negotiating a move for the player. Vidal’s representatives have insisted that their client will be looking for a new club in the winter and the Spaniard would be a good addition to Frank De Boer’s side.
This deal would be a win-win situation for all parties as Barcelona would be able to recover some of the €18 million they spent on him in 2015 and use it to fund the purchase of a top quality right-back in the next transfer window.
