Barcelona are reportedly considering a January swoop for Manchester United defender Alex Telles.
90Min report that Barca are looking for a new left-back before the end of the winter window and Telles is one of the names on their shortlist.
Telles had to be patient under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite Luke Shaw’s poor form, but has had more opportunities under Ralf Rangnick.
And Barcelona’s financial situation means there has to be a degree of scepticism over any reported transfer targets, especially ones they would need to pay a fee for.
Rangnick likes having depth
Ahead of Saturday’s clash with Aston Villa, which Shaw missed through suspension, with Telles deputising, Ralf Rangnick spoke about how he likes having two quality options in that left-back position.
“I’m more than happy to have two players like Luke and Alex for that position as a left-back,” he said.
“The same is true for the right-back position with Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. We have, in each of those positions, two good players and depending on who is fully fit, fully fresh, do we need to rest somebody?
“As with Luke, it’s the case right now he is suspended, so it’s important to have two players with a little bit of a different profile. I think Alex is a little more of an offensive wing-back/full-back. The same is true of Diogo Dalot on the right-hand side.
“The other two English full-backs are both defensively and offensively balanced players, so that gives the coach lots of options depending on which team you’re going to play.”
That indicates that the German would be in absolutely no rush to sell Telles, which would leave Dalot needing to cover both full-back positions unless a replacement came in.
Barca linked with yet another United man
Barca are clearly keen to put the word out there that they can still sign players from big clubs despite their financial position.
In November, they were credited with an interest in Jesse Lingard, with their preference for players with expiring contracts unsurprising given their finances.
Since then, they have been linked with Juan Mata and Edinson Cavani, another two players who will be out of contract at the end of the season.
Given they would have to pay to land Telles, who has a deal until 2024, with the option to to sign for another year, this rumour seems implausible.
It is a good job Barcelona seem to have other names on their list, because they need a more realistic defensive target than Telles, unless the situation drastically changes from here.
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