Barcelona have reportedly set their sights on Inter Milan centre-back Alessandro Bastoni, who is their top defensive target for the summer.
According to a report by Italian outlet Calciomercato, Barcelona are looking to strengthen their squad in the summer and have identified Inter Milan cente-back Alessandro Bastoni as their priority target to improve their defence for next season.
Bastoni is not the only Inter player Barcelona have been interested in, with the Catalan club pursuing the Nerazzurri’s star frontman Lautaro Martinez since the past couple of seasons, although they have been put off by Inter’s asking price for the Argentine.
In recent times, faced a lot of financial problems and the club’s current economic situation has not helped Ronald Koeman, as he failed to make any big signings in the previous transfer window. The Catalan club are still in the midst of their presidential election and Joan Laporta, one of the candidates, has promised to make key signings in the summer in order to reinforce the squad for next season.
Koeman has targeted a lot of big names to improve his squad, with Erling Haaland, Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero being some of the players the Dutchman wants sign in the summer. However, the Barcelona manager is said to be keen on Bastoni to improve defence as he is impressed by the player’s qualities and considers him to be an ideal player to partner Ronald Araujo at the back.
Antonio Conte, however, regards Bastoni as a key part of his team, with the Inter boss wanting to tie the player down to a new five-year deal. Inter signed Bastoni for €31 million in the summer of 2017 from Atalanta and his valuation has risen ever since. The Nerazzuri have no intention of selling their young prospect as they consider the Italian defender to be an indispensable player.
Bastoni has attracted interest from many other clubs, with Arsenal and Manchester City trying to bring the player to the Premier League last summer. The Italian, however, has no plans of leaving San Siro anytime soon and is focused to get Inter back to the top as they look to win the Serie A title after almost 11 years.
It remains to be seen if Barcelona will succeed in their pursuit of the Bastoni. However, the Catalan club could look at Eric Garcia from Manchester City as another option if they fail in the pursuit of Inter Milan’s young central defender.