AC Milan make contact with €20 million-rated Barcelona defensive target

In what could be a blow to Barcelona in their pursuit of Ivan Fresneda, Italian news publication Calciomercato (h/t SPORT) has revealed that Serie A side AC Milan have already established contacts with the player’s representatives.

At the moment, Milan do not consider reinforcing the right-back spot a priority, the same as Barcelona. Still, they want to add depth to the department especially since they have decided not to continue with Sergino Dest.

The Italian team has communicated the message with Barcelona that they will not exercise the €20 million purchase option for Dest, meaning they will require a player to act as backup at right-back.

Now, as far as Barcelona are concerned, we have reported that Fresneda does not want to leave his home country and is waiting for Barcelona to make an offer. 

But, at the moment, even the Blaugrana entity is not looking to reinforce the full-back position as a priority. Furthermore, his valuation of €20 million is expected to be a problem. Right now, there is some kind of scepticism within the board, hence the delay in making an offer.

Interestingly enough, Barcelona and Milan are not the only teams vying for his signature as it is said that Newcastle United and even Arsenal are interested in his acquisition as well. Borussia Dortmund were in the race too but the Bundesliga side decided not to bet €20 million on the 18-year-old defender.

Meanwhile, despite Milan’s best interest, Barcelona continue to have their noses ahead in the race, especially after conducting multiple meetings with the player’s agents.

Right now, however, there is no bid in place and one will not be made until the other priority matters are taken care of. Once those are dealt with, one can expect the management to move their focus on Fresneda.

Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.