The Spanish giants Barcelona is set to bid €60 million for Paris Saint-Germain starlet Marquinhos in the January transfer window.
The Brazilian centre-back has been under Barcelona’s radar for quite some time now. The Catalans are believed to have made a bid of €45 million earlier this year but was rejected by PSG.
The PSG defender has been a target for Barcelona since he moved to the Paris-based club from AS Roma three years ago. The Catalans see Marquinhos as a future replacement for the club defender Gerard Pique (29).
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According to L’Equipe, Marquinhos is currently unhappy with PSG and will look for a switch to Camp Nou in the January transfer window. However, the young defender’s current contract keeps him at the Parc des Princes till June 2019.
According to Spanish media outlet Marca, the player has met with the Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi and discussed his desire to leave the French side.
However, the Ligue 1 champions are believed to see Marquinhos lead the defence in the near future and hold him in high regard.
The 22-years-old defender is believed to be the missing piece in Barcelona manager Luis Enrique’s puzzle. Marquinhos can play both centre-back and right-back positions, and can be an upgrade over the current options Sergi Roberto and Aleix Vidal in the full-back position.
The recent departure of Dani Alves has left Barcelona searching for a decent right back option as well.
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Barcelona is believed to be in talks with Paris Saint-Germain over last 2 years for a possible transfer move of Marquinhos. Reportedly, the Paris-based club did not want to sell the Brazilian starlet, mostly because Barcelona never bid more than €40 million.
Since the departure of Carles Puyol, the centre-back position has been a headache for Barcelona. Now with ageing centre-back options like Gerard Pique and Jeremy Mathieu they are desperate to strengthen the defensive options.
Paris Saint-Germain sold the first choice centre-back David Luiz to Chelsea in the last summer transfer window. As a result, Marquinhos is currently the first-choice in the central defense alongside Thiago Silva.
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In the recently concluded Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Marquinhos won an Olympic Gold medal with Brazil.
The Sau Paulo-born defender has made 75 appearances for PSG, scoring 9 goals in all competition.
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