Manchester United to face competition from Chelsea and Arsenal for Barcelona star - Reports

Premier League giants Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City are reportedly (via Football Espana) interested in signing Barcelona academy product Pau Cubarsi.

The 17-year-old made his UEFA Champions League debut earlier this week at home. He impressed, keeping Napoli striker Victor Osimhen away from goal, as the Blaugrana won 3-1 to progress to the quarterfinal with a 4-2 aggregate win.

Cubarsi, who made his debut in La Liga earlier in the season, is once again in the headlines for his exploits in the Champions League. He's on an underage contract at Barcelona, which expires in 2026.

Cubarsi is believed to have a release clause of €10-15 million. Barca are reportedly keen to extend it and tie him down to a longer contract. However, they cannot renegotiate for a longer deal until January 2025, when Cubarsi turns 18.

That might allow the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and United to pick up the player on a cheaper fee. As per Sport (via Football Espana), Manchester City contacted the player last summer.

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Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United - How are they faring in terms of their defence?

Chelsea have a veteran Thiago Silva in defence but have otherwise covered their backline with young defenders.

The Blues have youngsters like Malo Gusto, Levi Colwill, Alfie Gilchrist, Benoit Badiashille and Wesley Fofana settling in as starters. Their newly assembled team are still vulnerable defensively, though, having conceded 45 goals in the league this season, ranked 11th for goals conceded.

Manchester United's backline has been injury-plagued, with starting players like Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Aaron-Wan Bissaka missing big chunks of the season.

They have an ageing list of players to cover, in Harry Maguire (31), Victor Lindelof (29 and Jonny Evans (36), alongside others. United are ranked joint-fourth best in the Premier League defensive charts this season (39 goals conceded, along with Tottenham and Everton).

As for Arsenal, they are atop the points table in terms of points accumulated and goals conceded (24). The centre-back pairing of Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba are commanding the backline well, while Ben White continues to be solid at right-back. Their left-back slot has rotated a lot, though, with Jakub Kiwior starting ahead of Oleksandr Zinchenko.