Barcelona were interested in Bayern defender, but chose to pursuit Jose Gaya instead

Journalist Victor Navarro has said that Bayern Munich defender Lucas Hernandez was strongly considered by Barcelona in the previous transfer windows before the team decided to switch their attention to Valencia’s Jose Gaya.

The 26-year-old versatile defender, who has spent five seasons with Atletico Madrid in the past, moved to Germany in 2019, but his tenure has been largely troubled with injuries, having made 93 appearances across all competitions in three seasons.

The 2018 World Cup winner has a valid contract with Bayern until 2024 and came under Barcelona’s radar when the Catalan team was on an extensive operation of finding a perfect competition for Jordi Alba.

That was mostly during the January transfer window, as this is exactly when the team decided to monitor Valencia captain Jose Gaya instead. The 26-year-old still remains Barcelona’s top priority, but there are extreme complications that need quick solutions.

To begin with, the main idea to sign a left-back is to essentially provide a stern competition to Jordi Alba, as the 33-year-old is more or less the only reliable option Xavi has at the moment.

And this is exactly what Gaya wants to avoid. Since he is already a starter at Valencia, he is not too keen on playing as a second fiddle at Camp Nou. While he was hoping to get a starting place, Barcelona are ready to offer any such guarantee.

This, in turn, has forced Gaya to reconsider Barcelona’s approach, and he has rather decided to continue with Valencia by renewing his current deal, which expires in 2023.

Since then, the team has been linked with several names and Borussia Monchengladbach defender Ramy Bensebaini is the new name on the list.