Barcelona are on the lookout for a new right-back this summer and have locked in on Real Valladolid youngster Ivan Fresneda as their preferred target.
The 18-year-old had a solid debut season in La Liga in 2022/23 even though Valladolid ended up getting relegated. As such, the teenage right-back has become a wanted target for several clubs, including Barcelona, AC Milan, Arsenal, and Real Madrid, among others.
Barça have held talks with Fresneda’s agents and reports even suggested that the 18-year-old will be open to waiting for the La Liga champions to make an offer.
However, according to the latest reports from Alex Pintanel, Barcelona’s pursuit of Fresneda has come to a halt temporarily as the operation is complicated without the departures of players from the club.
Fresneda has a release clause worth €20 million in his contract with Valladolid, but the club can afford to spend only €10 million on his signing.
Even that would only be possible if the Catalan giants are able to part ways with players, which has been difficult thus far.
Apart from the willing departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, the Blaugrana have only parted ways with Samuel Umtiti by terminating his contract.
Efforts are being made to offload other unwanted stars such as Clement Lenglet, Alex Collado, Sergino Dest, Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres, Nico Gonzalez, and Eric Garcia.
But unless there are some exits, the operation to sign Fresneda will not take off and there may even be a possibility where Barcelona are forced to rely on in-house options like Sergino Dest or Julian Araujo, who will be assessed in the pre-season before a decision on their futures is made.
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