5 long-term replacements for Gerard Pique at FC Barcelona

#4 Panagiotis Retsos (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)

The future of the Greek national team's defense, Retsos is one of the best young defenders in Europe

The youngster is already one of the most highly rated center-backs in European football and seems to have a bright future ahead of him,

The youngest ever players to captain one of the big teams in Greece (Olympiakos no less), the South-African born player has been hailed as one of the brightest talents to ever come out of Greek football and is set to have a long, extended career in the national team beside AS Roma’s Kostas Manolas.

Calm on the ball with an eye for a pass, Retsos isn’t the tallest defender but he more than makes up for the extra inches with an uncanny understanding of where the ball might be at all times.

Like all youngsters, he sometimes takes unnecessary risks with his passing and may cause some goals along the way but his sense of positioning and tackling abilities make up for this.

He will not come cheap as he just joined Bayer 04 for £15.75 million but given the long-term value he will offer, Barcelona would be wise to get him in as soon as they can before the rest of Europe’s big clubs become aware of his excellence and an arms race ensues.