Barcelona are reportedly eyeing 22-year-old Argentine defender Cristian Romero, currently on loan at Atalanta from Juventus, over a summer move.
As per a report by Italian outlet Calciomercato, Barcelona’s desperate search for a central defensive reinforcement has taken them to Serie A, where Cristian Romero has popped up on their radar. The Catalan giants are scouring the possibility of signing the 22-year-old Argentine, who is currently on loan at Atalanta from Juventus.
Cristian Romero is rated as one of the most promising young defenders in Serie A at the moment, having impressed ever since arriving at Genoa from Belgrano in the summer of 2018. Having made an impression in his maiden campaign with Il Grifone, Juventus snapped him up before sending him back to his former club, this time on a season-long loan deal.
After impressing at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, the 22-year-old was hauled off on loan once again, this time to Atalanta, who secured his services for two years. So far this season, Romero has 3 goals and 4 assists in 33 appearances across all competitions. His progress has alerted Barcelona, who are exploring the possibility of signing him this coming summer.
Barcelona are eager to bolster their defence ahead of the 2021/22 season due to the fact that Gerard Pique is nearing the final phase of his career, with injuries starting to catch up to him as well. In addition, Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti have been extremely inconsistent this season, which has forced Ronald Koeman to make major rotations to his side.
While Ronald Araujo and Oscar Mingueza have impressed, the fact that Umtiti faces an uncertain future at Camp Nou means Barcelona do need to sign not one, but two centre-backs. So, while Eric Garcia is tipped to join the Catalans in the summer, it is prudent to look for other options as well.
To that end, Davinson Sanchez is one of the targets for Barcelona, with Romero also a viable option. Having said that, the fact that the 22-year-old Argentine defender is on a two-year loan deal with Atalanta, who have the option to sign him permanently, means the operation to sign him could well be quite complicated.
Nevertheless, it looks like Joan Laporta is eager to secure the services of Romero in the summer transfer window and it remains to be seen if Barcelona can swoop him away from Juventus as well as Atalanta ahead of next season.
