Barcelona have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of Marquinhos, with Paris Saint-Germain ready to sell the Brazilian defender, as per reports.
French publication Le10Sport have reported that Paris Saint-Germain are considering a summer sale of Brazilian defender Marquinhos. Barcelona are reportedly in pursuit of the centre-back and could be joined by Inter Milan in chase for the 22-year-old.
Marquinhos is a 22-year-old centre-back from Brazil who is slowly blossoming into one of the best young defenders in the world. Signed by Paris Saint-Germain from AS Roma in a £27 million deal, the youngster is starting to create his own identity for Les Parisiens.
However, the first three seasons at the Parc des Princes saw Marquinhos being rotated a lot, and being used as both a centre-back and a right-back, albeit without getting regular game time. That led to speculation linking him with a move away from PSG, with the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona interested.
But the current season has been one when Marquinhos has been able to finally nail down a spot for himself in the PSG first team, becoming an ever present in the heart of the defence. The centre-back has started all of PSG’s Champions League games, and has missed just 6 games in Ligue 1, playing a big hand in the French champions having the best defensive record in Ligue 1.
Recent reports, though, have stated that Marquinhos could be on Barcelona’s radar once again, with the Blaugrana in severe need of defensive reinforcements and plotting a summer move for him.
A spate of injury problems have pegged Javier Mascherano back this season, who has only managed to start 20 games in all competitions this season. Meanwhile, Jeremy Mathieu has just 18 months left on his contract and has been unreliable at the back of late.
Meanwhile, first choice centre-back pairing Gerard Pique – who is 30 now – and Samuel Umtiti have been going great guns in the heart of the Barcelona defence, but Marquinhos would represent a viable long-term replacement for the Spaniard who can gradually be eased out by Luis Enrique.
Inter Milan are also said to be in the fray for Marquinhos, and could compete with Barcelona to bring the youngster back to Italy. The Nerazzurri’s new cash-rich owners, the Suning group, are aiming for a major squad rebuilding at the club and are ready to sanction several big name moves to get them back to competing for major silverware.
The likes of Marco Verratti, Federico Bernardeschi, Kostas Manolas as well as Chelsea manager Antonio Conte have already been linked with Inter in the last month, and they could be ready to splash the cash on Marquinhos to bolster their defence as well.
And Marquinhos won’t come cheap either, with the report going on to add that he could be sold for a world record fee for a defender, when PSG offload him. It now remains to be seen where Marquinhos heads off to with Barcelona and Inter Milan both being in the picture.
For now though, he must focus on the visit of his reported suitors Barcelona to the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, when he would be aiming to help PSG get one step closer to a place in the Champions League quarterfinals.
