Barcelona rule out young defender as Deco seeks experienced centre-back | OneFootball

With only a few days left before the start of the 2026-27 season, FC Barcelona are still to finalize their squad and are looking to bring reinforcements to several areas of their team.

As things stand, they seem to be close to landing the Manchester City midfielder Rodri Hernandez, although they are yet to agree terms with the Premier League side for his transfer. Meanwhile, they are also awaiting developments regarding Julian Alvarez and Atletico Madrid, as the Argentine looks to force his way out of the Colchonero club.

Furthermore, the defense has also emerged as an area for which Barcelona might look for more reinforcements in the remaining part of the transfer window, especially after the departure of Ronald Araujo, who has joined Liverpool on loan.

His departure has opened up room for an additional center-back in Flick’s team, and it would have been a very good opportunity for the young center-back Alvaro Cortes to make his way to the first team.

However, according to Diario AS, the young defender has not been able to fully convince the club that he can be a long-term option for them, and also does not want to return to the reserve team. Thus, he can also leave in the coming few days, especially as he already has some offers on the table.

This leaves the first team still in the need of a new center-back, and Deco wants an experienced player for this role. As a result, options like Luka Vuskovic, Lukeba Castello, and Jon Martin have been ruled out. Similarly, Cuti Romero is also not being considered because Deco wants a left-footed center-back.

Other appealing options like Josko Gvardiol and Alessandro Bastoni have been ruled out because of their high costs, while Athletic Club are not considering a departure of Aymeric Laporte, especially as their relations with Barcelona are quite strained since the Blaugranes’ pursuit of Nico Williams. In such a context, Natan has emerged as a possible option for Barcelona, but it remains to be seen whether they will be able to land him this summer.