Barcelona are looking to create further competition in their full back areas and have identified Ferland Mendy as the man to push Jordi Alba.
The Spaniard turns 30 next March and Barca are looking to the future as they target the 23-year-old from Lyon.
The Frenchman would command a sizeable fee having become a regular fixture at the Ligue 1 club after joining from Le Havre in summer 2017.
According to Mundo Deportivo Barcelona scouts have been watching Mendy, and he is the player in that position who has most impressed them.
Mendy has made nine appearances so far this season for Lyon, and impressed during the 2-1 Champions League win at Manchester City last month.
In total he has played 44 times for the club, scoring on three occasions.
Alba has become a long-term fixture in the Barcelona setup ever since arriving from Valencia in 2012.
Reports in Spain suggest, though, that a move for Mendy is aimed at increasing competition instead of supplanting the Spanish international.
Alba has played 257 times for the Catalan giants, lifted the Champions League in 2015 and has won four league titles.
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I don't know the reason why Valverde is not giving Malcom playing time?The coach must fix Malcom and munir in some matches so that they can get the rythem of the team...No one knows nothing unless we learn from our partners..Suarez is becoming weak so Valverde needs to start using munir and Malcom so that they can get the team's style of play rather than going out to buy a player...This will cause the rate of spending much money and we need to stop that....Pique is weak so the coach need to try vermaelen and lenglet or umtiti so that they can play together...These are the things the coach needs to do ......Again the coach should influence the players so that they can perform well to get the three points in every single match...The players must also learn how to shoot from a distance like coutinho,I really like him since he joined the club...The players must start doing the same because some match, Messi can be marked by two to three players from the opponents side and this is the chance for the other players to shoot to the goal post of their opponents...We should take note of this...Thank you