Barcelona are in the race to sign the Italian international and AC Milan captain Alessio Romagnoli to replace their French defender Samuel Umtiti for next season.
Umtiti has struggled with his injury problems since the 2018 World Cup. He suffered five lengthy knee injuries after the World Cup which limited his first-team football. The 27-year-old defender made only five La Liga starts in this season for the Blaugrana. Ronald Koeman prefers Ronald Araujo, Clement Lenglet, and Oscar Mingueza ahead of Umtiti.
The World Cup winning French defender has a contract with Koeman’s side until 2023. However, Barca are looking to sell players to raise the transfer budget in the summer to buy Erling Braut Haaland. So, they are willing to offload Umtiti this summer from their huge wage bill.
Romagnoli’s contract with the Rossoneri will end in June 2022. The 26-year-old defender made 28 appearances in all competitions for Stefano Pioli’s side this season. He found the back of the net once and provided an assist as well in Serie A.
Can Barcelona sign Milan defender Romagnoli in the summer?
According to reports, The Catalan giants are looking to sign a new center-back this summer. They are looking to bring back Eric Garcia and are also in for the Milan captain Romagnoli. As Romagnoli has less than 18 months in his current contract with Milan and they haven’t been able to agree on contract renewal.
The report is also claiming that Barcelona are in for Argentine Ajax’s defender Lisandro Martínez and Feyenoord’s defender Marcos Senesi.
Juventus are also reportedly in for the Italian defender Romagnoli as their veteran center-half Giorgio Chiellini is going to leave Turin at the end of this season. Romagnoli will be a perfect replacement for Chiellini at Juventus as he already has experience in the Italian league.
It will be interesting to see if Barcelona can land Milan center-back at Camp Nou. He will be an excellent signing for the Blaugrana for next season if they can pull this deal off and beat Juventus in the race for Alessio Romagnoli.
Also, follow our Twitter page for the latest updates on Indian football and La Liga.
