Barcelona’s interminable hunt for a right-back continues this summer, and with their efforts to sign Joao Cancelo dragging, they are beginning to look at alternatives.
Sporting Director Deco is reportedly keen to bring Ivan Fresneda to the club, but Xavi Hernandez wants a more developed option for the starting role, hence his preference is Cancelo.
Manchester City are keen to sell Cancelo permanently though, or at the very least bring in some money from a loan deal – the former being out of Barcelona’s means currently.
Hence they have started looking at other options. It was first reported in April that Barcelona were scouting Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, and now Carlos Monfort has reported that they are in contact with die Werkself over a potnential deal.
📂 JEREMY FRIMPONG
• Hubo contacto entre el entorno del jugador y Deco (que ve al jugador con muy buenos ojos), pero se le comunicó que la prioridad es Cancelo.
• El Leverkusen lo podría dejar ir por 30M
• Su entorno espera a que irrumpa el mercado para decidir@JijantesFC pic.twitter.com/kJQdvaPwmu
— Carlos Monfort (@monfortcarlos) August 7, 2023
His information is that Barcelona have been honest with Frimpong that their priority is Cancelo, but he could be the next in line. Leverkusen would be looking for €30m for the lightning-quick Frimpong, yet Barcelona are unlikely to be the only contender for his signature. Seemingly they are waiting to assess their options.
If the Blaugrana are forced to compete with another side financially for Frimpong, they may as well bow out now, and even at €30m, this seems a rather unlikely fee for them to spend this summer. That said, Barcelona may be able to negotiate some favourable terms.
