Deco working hard on signing a right-back at Barcelona, likes 18-year-old prospect

According to SPORT, Barcelona’s new sporting director Deco has the signing of Arda Guler as his first goal at the club. At the same time, the former midfielder is also working hard on signing a new right-back this summer, with Ivan Fresneda being an option that he likes.

Deco’s appointment may not have been officially confirmed as of yet but the former midfield legend has already gotten busy at work. Having helped laid the foundations for the potential signing of Guler from Fenerbahce, he is understood to be working hard to sign a right-back as well.

As things stand, Barça lack a quality right-back at their disposal. Sergi Roberto is not a natural in the position, Julian Araujo does not have experience in Europe and could even be allowed to leave, while returning loanee Sergino Dest is not in the team’s plans either.

With Jules Kounde no longer open to fulfilling duties as a right-back, Deco is understood to be working on bringing in someone new for the position.

And the name of Fresneda has been doing the rounds quite a bit of late. The 18-year-old enjoyed a solid debut campaign in La Liga in 2022/23 with Real Valladolid. Despite his age, the right-back stood tall against some of the trickiest wingers the league had to offer.

As such, Barcelona have been attracted by his abilities as well as the fact that his release clause halved from €40 million to €20 million after Valladolid’s relegation. The Catalans even believe that they can get the club to further reduce that valuation to around €15 million.

Fresneda, for his part, is ready to wait for an offer from Barcelona even though he has interest from several other clubs such as AC Milan and Newcastle United, among others.

With Deco working on several operations at the same time, it remains to be seen where on the priority list a new right-back sits. But, Fresneda appears to be a name that the incoming director likes and efforts will likely be made to sign him.