Andoni Zubizarreta, Barcelona’s sporting director, has confirmed that his club are in no hurry to sign a new centre-back as rumours continue to connect them with targets including Chelsea’s David Luiz and Liverpool’s Daniel Agger.
PSG’s Thiago Silva, who recently signed a new deal with the Ligue 1 champions, was supposed to be the favourite for Barcelona as it would have given height and strength to the back line. But the Brazilian’s new contract extension with the Parisian club has turned the Blaugrana’s interest away from him.
Catalan press has reported Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Thomas Vermaelen (Arsenal) and Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham) as potential targets of the club. Whereas Tata Martino, new coach, is interested in getting Santiago Vergini to the Camp Nou.
Although Zubizarreta believes that signing new players quickly will be beneficial for the club, he wants to be patient in assessing his targets before finally getting them by the end of the transfer window.
“We have until the 31st,” he said. “It is not our intention to take that long, but that is the limit. The coach is not putting us under pressure – it is logical that he wants it to happen as soon as possible so that [a new arrival] can adapt better, but [Javier] Mascherano arrived on August 28 [2010] and he adapted quickly.”
In the meantime, Tata Martino sees Nahuel Guzman as a replacement for Victor Valdes, reports Mundo Deportivo.
The 27 year old, 6′ 4″ tall goalkeeper, Guzman, impressed everyone with his performance as the club won 2012 Argentine league title and reached the recent Copa Libertadores semi-finals. Barca will be having an eye on him this season to secure a transfer once Valdes moves out at the end of his contract in June 2014.
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