Barcelona have reportedly set their sights on Lautaro Martinez and Rodrigo Caio to bolster their squad in two key areas to address current issues.
The Catalan giants are going well so far this season as they sit top of the La Liga table as well as their Champions League group.
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In turn, coach Ernesto Valverde will be pleased with the results aspect, although they arguably haven’t been entirely convincing throughout in terms of performances.
With Samuel Umtiti continuing to struggle with a troublesome knee injury coupled with Luis Suarez turning 33 in January, there are two potentially crucial issues that the Spanish giants will be facing moving forward and based on the speculation below, it appears as though they want to address them sooner rather than later.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Martinez is being ‘constantly monitored’ by Barcelona as he has been identified as an ideal fit to step in and replace Suarez when the time is right.
The 22-year-old is certainly making a strong case for that to be a sensible move from the reigning La Liga champions given he has bagged seven goals and two assists in 13 appearances so far this season, but that has seemingly had a knock-on effect on his valuation too as the report adds that he could cost Barca in excess of €100m.
Time will tell if that’s enough to put Barcelona off or not, but ultimately if they feel as though he is the best option to replicate what Suarez does for the team in leading the line, then perhaps they will go forward and try to prise him away from Inter.
Elsewhere, Marca report that Caio is also being followed by Barcelona, as the 26-year-old could be seen as a replacement for Umtiti if the Frenchman is unable to put his injury nightmare behind him, or at the very least another defensive reinforcement to add further quality and depth.
However, the report adds that he will likely cost around €30m to prise away from Flamengo, and so if Barca do have genuine hopes of landing the pair, they’ll have to dig deep into their pockets and perhaps offload others to create space in the squad for the duo to arrive next year.
As per Mundo Deportivo this week, it has been suggested already that their focus will be selling in January, and that could then pave the way for further signings next summer.
