Report: Barcelona target a left-sided centre-back in January

The Athletic reports that Barcelona intend to sign a left-sided centre-back during the winter transfer window. The move comes after Hansi Flick was forced to use Frenkie de Jong at centre-back amid injuries to Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde and Xavi Espart.

The names mentioned in the report include Inter Milan's Alessandro Bastoni and Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol, as well as Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez. The report said signing Bastoni or Gvardiol could be expensive, while noting that Martinez is in the final year of his contract and wants to leave.

Reports have also linked Barcelona with Arsenal's Piero Hincapie, Ajax's Yuri Baas and RB Leipzig's Castello Lukeba. But Fabrizio Romano said Arsenal do not intend to sell Hincapie or make changes to their defence in January, describing the player as important to Mikel Arteta.

According to a Sports Illustrated report, Barcelona could be interested in signing Martinez if the deal did not require significant spending. The report also noted the possibility of competition from Atletico Madrid, after the two sides showed mutual interest last summer.