Bundesliga club director delivers blow to Barcelona’s hopes of signing full-back

Barcelona’s hopes of signing Borussia Dortmund right-back Thomas Meunier have been dealt a blow as the German club’s transfer chief, Sebastian Kehl, has ruled out a sale this summer.

Meunier has been on Barça’s agenda since the January transfer window, when a move to Camp Nou was blocked by the Bundesliga giants.

The Catalans have revisited their interest in the Belgian international after missing out on the signing of primary right-back target Cesar Azpilicueta.

Meunier is one of the options currently on the table at Camp Nou, while they are also looking at Villarreal’s Juan Foyth as well as Arsenal outcast Hector Bellerin, although the latter is seen as the last resort.

Meunier, for his part, is said to be open to moving to Barcelona. However, at the moment, Dortmund are not at all entertaining the possibility of selling the former PSG defender in the current transfer window.

Kehl had earlier put out statements in which he insisted that Meunier was not for sale. Reiterating his stance, the Dortmund director said (h/t Ruhr Nachrichten): “The transfer window is still open until next week, but we have no intention of selling Thomas Meunier.

“There will be another wild ride from Monday onwards. But I refer that overall to the market. Currently, it is absolutely not our plan to sell him.”

Barcelona had been considering a potential swap deal which would see Meunier arrive at Camp Nou while out-of-favour right-back Sergino Dest moves the other way. However, if Dortmund hold firm on their current stance, a move for the Belgian looks unlikely.

In such a scenario, the Blaugrana might end up making a move for Bellerin, as Foyth would be an expensive acquisition. Bellerin, on the other hand, could arrive for free as he is in the final year of his contract at Arsenal, who are open to terminating his deal.

The Spaniard impressed on loan at Real Betis last season and knows Barcelona well from his days at La Masia. He could be a realistic option for Xavi & co. to consider.