As Barcelona continues plan to trim down their wage budget, Inter Milan might be a beneficiary of a swoop for 24-year-old defender Junior Firpo.
This was revealed by Calciomercato.
Since joining Barcelona from Real Betis for an initial €18 million, Firpo has been on the fringe. But he has been playing whenever Jordi Alba is off the field.
In La Liga this season, he has been on the bench since the return of Jordi Alba from injury. The left-back has played 25 times for Barcelona but has featured just twice this term, with both appearances coming in the Champions League.
Alba has been an established member of the squad with requisite experience. His defensive and attacking influence in Barca made him an important player that can’t be dispensed.
Since he is yet to be picked in a league game by Ronald Koeman since the Dutchman took over at Camp Nou, it’s widely understood that Barca are keen to offload fringe players like Firpo to ease their financial issues.
This could create space for salaries for new players Barca expect to make an instant impact. Barca was stopped by Liga from completing the move for Memphis Depay during the summer window, due to their large amount of debt amounting to over 700m Euros.
This, therefore, increases the chances of being able to conduct their own January transfer business, while the player himself is reported to be keen on a move if it means he plays more first-team football.
Why Junior Firpo is a top priority for Inter Milan
Meanwhile, a left-back has been identified as a top priority of Inter boss Antonio Conte. This could be because of the age factor of Ashley Young and Aleksander Kolarov. The duo are both 35 and 34 years respectively and they could get injured any time.
Although, Conte got them for reasonable fees, having a long term replacement looked to be his major goal in the team.
This kind of move appears to suits all parties involved as Barca will get a reasonable amount.
Meanwhile, Inter has also tabled other alternatives like Chelsea duo Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso should in case the move for the 24-year-old fails to materialise.
They have won only one of their past seven games in all competitions. This is giving Conte an headache having sorted his right back issue with the signing of Achraf Hakimi.
