Barcelona set to miss out on highly-rated Serie A defender | OneFootball

FC Barcelona can see some changes taking place on their flanks in the upcoming summer transfer window. The futures of both Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde are not very certain, even though both of them reportedly want to stay at the Blaugrana club, while the club is still in negotiations with Al-Hilal to get Joao Cancelo for the next season.

In such a context, the Catalans are also keeping an eye on some fullbacks from the market, whom they can turn to if one of their fullbacks end up leaving this summer.

One of the players that they were monitoring closely for this purpose was the young Atalanta defender Marco Palestra, whom their scouts watched as they travelled to Italy frequently, mainly to see Alessandro Bastoni in action.

However, the 21-year-old fullback might no longer remain an option for Barcelona, as Mundo Deportivo cites journalists like Fabrizio Romano and Nicolo Schira to report that he is close to joining Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri side would get him for €50 million, and would tie him down with a contract till 2031.

Other big clubs like Manchester City and Newcastle United were also interested in him, while Barcelona were monitoring him as a possible replacement of either Jules Kounde or Alejandro Balde. Meanwhile, the Catalans are also yet to decide on the futures of players like Xavi Espart and Hector Fort.

Another fullback from Italy that they had on their watch was the Juventus defender Andrea Cambiaso. However, he is also being closely linked with Chelsea, as the Blues look to replace Marc Cucurella, who was yet another option being considered by Barcelona recently, but who ended up joining their archrivals, Real Madrid.

For now, it remains to be seen whether the Blaugranes would update their shortlist if the option of these two Italian defenders also evaporates in the coming days.