Real Madrid are reportedly planning to steal a march on Barcelona and Inter Milan to sign Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos in the summer.
Spanish outlet Don Balon have reported that Real Madrid have set their sights on Marquinhos, and are planning to make a summer move for the Brazilian centre-back. Barcelona and Inter Milan are also reported to be eyeing a move for the PSG defender.
Marquinhos has finally established himself at the heart of the PSG defence this season following the departure of David Luiz to Chelsea last summer. Having struck a formidable partnership with captain Thiago Silva, the 22-year-old has been instrumental in PSG boasting the best defensive record in Ligue 1.
And while Marquinhos and co. did end up conceding a whopping six goals in their recent outing against Barcelona, that is only one blip in what has been an impressive season. With the Brazil international finally starting to deliver on his promising talent, clubs have started to tail him as well.
Barcelona have been long-time admirers of Marquinhos’ talents and recent reports have stated that the Blaugrana are ready to make another move for the player as they are in some dire need of central defensive reinforcements in the summer.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan are also desperate to bring in a top quality centre-back before next season, with neither Jeison Murillo not Gary Medel turning in consistent performances. Therefore, they have been eyeing Marquinhos for a possible move in the summer.
However, Barcelona and Inter are now set to face competition from Real Madrid for the signature of the Brazilian, after Los Blancos president Florentino Perez met with his PSG counterpart Nasser Al-Khelaifi last week to discuss a possible deal for Marquinhos.
Real Madrid have also long held an interest in the 22-year-old, and with Pepe set to leave the club at the end of the season, they are tracking the player as a long-term replacement for the Portuguese veteran. In addition to that, they also hope that Marquinhos can take the reins from Sergio Ramos as the club captain in future.
Al-Khelaifi did inform Perez, though, that Barcelona are currently in the driver’s seat should PSG take the decision to sell the youngster. However, the Real Madrid president plans to steal a march on their fierce rivals by tabling a higher bid than Barcelona, which could turn PSG’s head.
The report finally states that PSG will sell Marquinhos to the highest bidder, putting the ball in Real Madrid’s court in that case. It now remains to be seen how things develop as we near the reopening of the transfer window in June.
