Barcelona to target La Liga star in the summer - Reports

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Villareal full-back Alfonso Pedraza, as the Blaugrana are looking for a successor to replace aging Jordi Alba. Pedraza has become one of the La Liga's premier left-backs and is a mainstay in Unai Emery's side.

The Spaniard has made 33 appearances across all competitions this season and has been in impressive form for Villareal.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are looking at Pedraza as an alternative, if their move for Valencia's Jose Gaya doesn't work out. Gaya would cost around €15 million, but the Valencia captain is reportedly determined to stay at the club.

Pedraza would cost Barcelona around €15 million as well, which would be a huge bargain for the Catalan club. They currently find themselves in massive amounts of debt going into the summer window.

Barcelona are likely to part ways with many players in the summer in order to raise finances to make a splash in the transfer window.

🔄 (LEFT-BACK): José Gayà is Barcelona's first option to come in as the left-back. He would arrive for a fee of around €15m plus variables.• Villarreal's Alfonso Pedraza is another option. His price woulf be €15-20m.#FCB #Transfers 🇪🇸Via (🟡): @mundodeportivo pic.twitter.com/qvGcLnDln9

— Barça Buzz (@Barca_Buzz) March 29, 2021

The Blaugrana are looking for a player to serve as a back-up for Jordi Alba for the time being, before taking over the reins as the club's first-choice left-back. Junior Firpo was touted to be that player, but Ronald Koeman is said to have lost faith in the full-back and is looking to sell him in the summer.

Barcelona need to revamp their squad in the summer

Lionel Messi is yet to sign a new contract at Barcelona

Ronald Koeman is ready to dismantle the current Barcelona side and rebuild around some of the club's most promising talents this year. The main priority between now and the end of the season is convincing Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi to extend his stay at the club.

Once Messi's future is secured, the club are ready to put their faith into their youth academy prospects like Ansu Fati, Pedri and Ilaix Moriba. This means that some of the senior players in the squad are likely to face the axe in the summer.

Barcelona are currently feeling the financial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and will have to sell players in order to lower the club's massive wage bill.

Phillipe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic and Clement Lenglet are all rumoured to be leaving the club in the summer. There could also be some surprise departures in the form of Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele.

🗣 [@xlemus🥇] | To renew Messi and Dembélé's contracts, Barça needs to reduce the payroll considerably, and this will happen by placing players like Griezmann, Coutinho, Umtiti, Junior, Neto and a few others on the market. They have exceeded the wage limit set by La Liga by far. pic.twitter.com/8JOLQSRfeM

— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) March 30, 2021