Analysis: If Barcelona don’t sign Ivan Fresneda, what should they do about their right-back situation?

It has already been a fast start to the summer transfer window for Barcelona. Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez have officially been announced, while a deal for Vitor Roque has all-but been completed.

Mateu Alemany and Deco won’t be stopping there, as there are other issues that need to be resolved, as outlined by Xavi Hernandez. He stated that Barcelona need to sign a new pivot, as well as a right-back.

Oriol Romeu is the primary target to solve the former, with Barcelona hoping to agree a deal with Girona by the end of next week. However, solving the right-back issues does not appear to be as straightforward.

Ivan Fresneda had appeared to be their primary option, with Real Valladolid prepared to accept a deal worth €10m for the 18-year-old. However, recent reports have suggested that Barcelona are not able to match this amount, as their well-documented financial struggles continue to wreck havoc.

This leaves Barcelona in a bit of a predicament. Currently, they have just Jules Kounde for the right-back area, although the French international is not a natural in the position. Sergi Roberto is their “backup”, while Ronald Araujo can also fit in well required.

Clearly, they do need a new right-back, and Fresneda would have been an ideal option as he can act as a backup to Kounde, before looking to make the position his own for many years to come, while Kounde can then move back inside to central defence.

€10m is not a lot of money in today’s market, so if they don’t even have that to spend this summer, it is unlikely that Barcelona will be able to sign a good option. If this is the case, they would be better served saving what little money they have.

Barcelona do already have a young right-back that they can utilise next season – Julian Araujo. The Mexican international was signed from LA Galaxy, and Xavi will run the rule over him during pre-season. If he impresses, he could be Kounde’s understudy for next season.

However, it will depend on whether Araujo is deemed to currently be good enough to play a part in Barcelona’s first team. If not, they could be in for trouble, although they were absolutely fine last season, so maybe not.

It remains to be seen how Barcelona approach their right-back problem, but if they can’t sign Fresneda, it would be wise for them to just save their money.