Valverde noncommittal on signings

Barcelona Coach Ernesto Valverde admits he is not sure if the club will sign any new central defenders in the January transfer window.

Samuel Umtiti is set for two months on the sidelines while Javier Mascherano – who reportedly wants to leave the club – is also injured, leaving Thomas Vermaelen and Gerard Pique as the only fit central defenders.

“A lot of thought would have to go into any signing,” Valverde told reporters on Monday.

“Right now, we are happy with the group of central defenders we have but when there are injuries, of course you might consider going into the market.

“The injury to Umtiti is not a good one but we hope he recovers quickly but we must look at other solutions such as Busquets or Digne.

“Yerry Mina? He is a good player but right now he is at another club and we are not yet clear if he will arrive in January or the end of the season.

“We have two healthy central defenders at the moment so hopefully they can avoid injury because we are talking about the situation quite a lot.”

Tags Ernesto Valverde
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