Report: Versatile Chelsea defender on Barcelona radar for June

The centre-back position has been one that has tormented Barcelona for the past few years. Gerard Pique’s inconsistency together with his age and Clement Lenglet’s dip in form have not helped the situation.

Moreover, Ronald Araujo has been more injury-prone than he would like. That said, the club are left with very few options on any given day. Targetting the free agents has been Barcelona’s go-to strategy in the past window.

According to reports from reliable ESPN, the Blaugrana are looking to sign César Azpilicueta from Chelsea in the summer. The Spanish defender is on the final six months of his contract at Stamford Bridge and is yet to commit to a new deal.

Though Azpilicueta made his name as a right-back at the London-based club, he has manned the central defence for his National side before. His experience and versatility are attributes that new coach Xavi would value.

The Chelsea captain has been a regular for the team, but might be forced to reconsider his stay with his age going up. Moreover, the Blues have been speculated to sign a young centre-back in the coming summer window with Jules Kounde topping the list. Needless to say, his arrival could reduce the Spaniard’s prominence.

If Azpilicueta decides to run down his contract at Chelsea, Barcelona will look to swoop him up. For the player too, it would be a lovely homecoming after a long and successful career in England.

The 32-year-old most recently started for Spain against Sweden last night and played a sweet performance the entire game at the right-back.