Barcelona willing to offer Atletico Madrid defender fresh start next summer

Barcelona are perusing potentially cut-price options to pad out their squad next summer, and one of the options they have identified is Atletico Madrid defender Reinildo Mandava. The 30-year-old Mozambique international is out of contract next summer, and looks set to leave Los Rojiblancos.

The Blaugrana have discarded the idea of going for either Trent Alexander-Arnold or Alphonso Davies due to cost, but are still looking to strengthen the full-back positions. Reinildo has made 18 appearances this season, but they amount to just 957 minutes and 10 starts. That is reflective of the fact that Javi Galan has made the left-back spot his own of late. MD say that Sporting Director Deco is looking at Reinildo as a left-back option that can play in central defence.

In Atletico’s last 7 Liga and Champions League games, Reinildo has featured for just 45 minutes, and previous reports have claimed that Atletico are willing to let him go in January too. If he were to arrive, it seems likely he would come in on a similar basis to Marcos Alonso, who left for Celta Vigo last summer. Reinildo is more solid defensively than Alejandro Balde, but there are doubts about his effectiveness going forward in a possession-heavy system, which Barcelona tend to favour.