Barcelona could benefit as Alessandro Bastoni’s situation begins to resemble Luis Suarez’s saga | OneFootball

Links associating FC Barcelona with the Inter Milan defender Alessandro Bastoni have significantly strengthened in the last few days, and the Italian center-back now seems primed to reinforce the Blaugrana defense next summer.

However, the player has been living through one of the harshest periods of his career this season, and his troubles have continued both with his club and national teams.

These troubles reached a new high point when Italy were unable to secure their place in the upcoming World Cup after the defeat to Bosnia. In that game, the 26-year-old defender saw a red card in the 40th minute. As a result, a lot of blame for his team’s loss was put at his feet.

This incident, coupled with his inauspicious involvement in the red card to Pierre Kalulu in the game between Inter and Juventus, has made him quite a hated figure in Italy.

However, as Mundo Deportivo has noted, this would not be the first time that Barcelona would be signing a player who recently lost a lot of popularity, despite previously being considered a top player in his league.

The Blaugranes famously signed Luis Suarez from Liverpool in 2014, announcing his signing only 17 days after he bit Giorgio Chiellini in a World Cup game between Italy and Uruguay. This incident, which led to a 9-match ban and four-month suspension from all football-related activities from FIFA, overnight made him one of the most unpopular players in England.

This also led Liverpool to transfer-list their star player, who had shared the Golden Boot with Cristiano Ronaldo only the last season with his 31 goals. Real Madrid were previously linked with him, but after this incident, they highlighted his recent knee surgery to withdraw their interest.

Meanwhile, Barcelona made the bet on the forward, and this proved to be quite a success for the Blaugranes. Luis Suarez scored 198 goals in 283 games after signing for €81 million, and became a key part of the team’s attack, with Lionel Messi and Neymar Junior, in one of the most successful eras of the Catalan club.

For now, it remains to be seen whether Alessandro Bastoni will join Barcelona in similar circumstances, but there definitely is precedent to keep hopes of all the involved parties high that he can still enjoy success by undertaking the move despite his current predicament.