Barcelona Interested in Southampton's Cédric Soares
Barcelona have been pursuing Arsenal's Héctor Bellerín for weeks now, but it seems that they have been going nowhere. Well, the Catalan giants must be getting tired of waiting already because they appeared to have moved on to another target in their search for a right-back.
According to The Guardian, Barcelona are now eyeing Southampton's Cédric Soares, and The Sun has reported that they are considering lodging a £15 million bid for the defender. Serie A champions Juventus are reportedly interested in him as well and the Mirror has reported that Tottenham may also join the mix for his signature if Kyle Walker joins Manchester City this summer.
Bellerín is Barça's first choice, but Cédric will do just fine if he's not available.
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"That development is understood to have elicited a defiant shrug from Arsène Wenger, followed by a crafty thumbs up, because it'll suit Arsenal just fine if Barça take their eyes off Bellerín and switch their focus to Soares, whom Spurs have also identified as the ideal replacement for Kyle Walker," Paul Doyle said in his report for The Guardian.
The club tried to start Aleix Vidal at the position when Dani Alves left for Juventus last summer. However, Vidal failed to replicate the form he has shown during his stint with Sevilla. That was before he went down with a gruesome ankle injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season.
Former Barça manager Luis Enrique would also play midfielder Sergi Roberto out of position at right-back, and he actually played fairly well there. But reports say the Spanish footballer prefers to move back to midfield.
Barça really have to fill the hole at right-back if they want to field a squad that's capable of challenging Real Madrid for the La Liga title next season. And Cédric can be a cheap option if Bellerín is unavailable.
