Southampton’s Cedric Soares is reportedly the newest name to emerge on Barcelona’s shortlist for a right-back, as they continue to look for a replacement for Dani Alves.
According to Matt Law of the Telegraph, the Portuguese international is one of the players that the Catalan giants are considering for their coveted right-back position, which currently occupied by Sergi Roberto and are reportedly pondering a summer swoop for the 25-year-old.
Barcelona are now feeling the pressure of having missed out on a right-back in the summer. Aleix Vidal was only just returning from his exile from the first team, before a terrible injury is set to keep him out for the rest of the season, leaving midfielder Sergi Roberto as their only option.
Soares signed a contract extension with Southampton last summer, which would see him stay until 2020 so needless to say, the Saints would hold all the cards with regard to negotiating a transfer fee and according the report, Barcelona may have to come with at least £15 million to sign him.
Since moving to the Premier League from Sporting Clube de Portugal in the summer of 2015 for a reported £4.7 million, the Portuguese has gone on to establish himself as the first choice right-back under both Ronald Koeman and Claude Puel.
He had superb debut season in England, in which he made 24 Premier League appearances and helped Southampton to a 6th placed finish and a place in the group stages of the Europa League. He was also an integral part of his country’s victorious Euro 2016 campaign.
Southampton haven’t fared too well this season in the league and they currently sit at 11th place, 18 points away from a Europa League spot. They may however, end up qualifying for the competition should they cause an upset beat Manchester United in the final of the League Cup.
With a number of key players linked with moves away from St.Mary’s in the summer, it remains to be seen whether the Hampshire side end up selling Soares. What is certain however, is that given Barcelona’s desperation to sign a right-back, he could certainly fetch the Saints a lot of money in the summer transfer window, which could in turn help them add top quality players to their squad.
