Barcelona to finalise departure of defender next week

Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi have now both returned to training with Barcelona following their successful involvement at the 2024 Olympic Games. Their return to Catalonia confirms the problem that Hansi Flick has in central defender: he has too many options at his disposal.

Eric and Cubarsi add to Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Inigo Martinez, Mikayil Faye and Clement Lenglet. Eight senior players for two positions is too much, which is why moves are being made to reduce this number.

According to Relevo, it will reduce to seven in the next few days. Lenglet is the one furthest down the pecking order, and his departure is expected to be confirmed as early as next week. Atletico Madrid and Villarreal have both been interested, but until now, his wages have been a major problem in negotiations.

Barcelona are desperate to sell Lenglet, although they are confined to accepting another loan because of the lack of interest in a permanent operation. Nevertheless, a temporary departure would still be important, as getting his wages off the books would be crucial for freeing up the necessary salary space to register other players – including new signing Dani Olmo.