Reports: Barcelona interested in Chelsea and Arsenal stars

What’s the Story?

Barcelona are interested in David Luiz, and Laurent Koscielny as the La Liga champions look to enhance their defensive department, as reported by Mundo Deportivo. Reports suggest that the Catalan based club are looking to add some quality defenders to their roster and have shortlisted some prominent names including Jose Fonte too.

In case you didn’t know…

Injuries to Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen means that there is a shortage of central defenders with only Gerrard Pique and Clement Lenglet regularly included in the first-team action.

Barcelona already sold Yerry Mina to Everton this summer, and hence they might look to bring a defender mid-season to avoid causing fatigue due to participation in multiple tournaments towards the end of the current season.

The Heart of the Matter

Laurent Koscielny had injured his Achilles in Arsenal’s semi-final clash against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Europa League last season. However, the 33-year-old has been a leader at the back for the Gunners since joining them from Lorient in 2010.

Koscielny has made 238 appearances in the Premier League and has been a solid defender though one could witness a gradual decline in his overall gameplay throughout the last two seasons. He was unluckily not a part of France’s World Cup winning squad due to the above-stated injury.

On the other hand, David Luiz is someone who has attained a revival of sorts under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri. After falling out with the previous manager Antonio Conte, Luiz wasn’t provided much playing time last season. However, Sarri has made him a regular starter and admires Luiz’s ball-playing abilities. The former PSG player is one of the leaders of the team currently, and it would be interesting to see how he responds to Barcelona’s interest in him.

Barcelona might be on a lookout for defenders but whether they finalise Luiz and Koscielny as primary targets are something quite interesting. Koscielny hasn’t been involved on the field for over six months now and is already 33 years of age. The Spanish club would be closely monitoring his recovery from injury.

Rumour Probability: 5/10

There could be some truth to this as Mundo Deportivo is arguably a reliable news outlet which generates genuine transfer rumours. However, Luiz and Koscielny might not be the players who suit Barcelona’s profile at the moment.

We might have to wait for a couple of months to discover whether the Catalan club makes a formal offer for any of the two aforementioned players.