A majority of the players that Barcelona have managed to thus far sign during this summer transfer window have been central defenders. Out of the reported three arrivals, two have been from the referred position.
Despite the arrivals of Spanish defender Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao and Senegalese youngster Mikayil Faye from NK Kustosija, Barcelona believe they must still assess the possibility of bringing back a talented defensive player for a rather small fee in light of the European attention he has started to receive.
As has been highlighted by SPORT in their recent report, former Barcelona defender Mika Marmol, currently playing for Segunda Division side FC Andorra, has begun to attract attention from the likes of Rayo Vallecano, Mallorca, and UD Las Palmas, with Barcelona now even more attentive of his situation.
Having offloaded the player to FC Andorra in August of last year, Barcelona have since maintained both the option of repurchasing the player for a meager €1 million as well as having included a 50% sell-on clause should he be sold to another third club by FC Andorra. At the moment, the question remains as to which one should Barcelona prioritize.
Soon-to-be Sporting Director Deco has just recently made his way to Catalonia and has already been busy in finalizing other priority signings such as Ilkay Gundogan and the likes. Due to this hectic schedule, Barcelona have reportedly asked the central defender to give the club some time to finalize their decision and then accordingly enable him to make his own.
At the moment, the Catalan club does suspect that their first-team depth when it comes to central defenders is still not reliable. The injury concerns of Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, as well as newcomer Inigo Martinez, lead them to believe that possessing another quality unit amongst their ranks would not be a bad idea, especially if it is someone with Marmol’s understanding of the Barcelona system and his reliability as a central defender.
Moreover, the case of Eric Garcia remains uncertain as well. His future may well be somewhere else and thus bringing in another recruit may be a good choice, one that Xavi Hernandez has already allowed to debut with the first team in the past.
Along with these factors, the player can also provide alternative depth as a left-back, a position he is rather familiar with due to having played there on various occasions.
