Inter Milan set price tag for Barcelona’s priority defensive target – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona need a new centre-back. This has been well-documented in recent times, with even the club’s transfer links mainly surrounding a new central defender and Alessandro Bastoni seems to be on the top of the list.

According to Mundo Deportivo, citing La Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter would be prepared to let Bastoni leave for a figure in the region of €70 to 80 million. The report also says the Serie A club are not currently interested in accepting players as part of the deal to reduce the cash cost.

That number is the first big takeaway for Barcelona. Bastoni may be a priority defensive target, but he is not being positioned as a market opportunity or a discounted chance. Inter are pricing him like a premium, established defender in his prime.

Bastoni’s agent, Tullio Tinti, was at Inter’s offices on Monday to discuss the player, with elements of his future said to have come up during that meeting. That does not mean a transfer is suddenly close. It simply means there is movement around a player Barca already like.

From a Barcelona perspective, the attraction is obvious. Bastoni is 26, left-footed, top-level, and stylistically looks like the kind of centre-back who could fit both the club’s build-up demands and Flick’s broader defensive structure. That is why his name keeps returning.

The issue, as always, is the price. €70 to 80million is not just expensive, it is the sort of valuation that forces Barca to think carefully about whether one elite signing is worth the trade-offs elsewhere in the squad.

The sacrifice that Barcelona are bound to make will then have to be in the striker role, unless they are touched by a wand of richness that we are not aware. Let’s wait and see how things play out on this front in the coming months.