Right-back at you: Barcelona's three January transfer targets

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
• 3 min read

Dani Alves casts a long shadow at Barcelona, with the Blaugrana having been unable to effectively replace the Brazilian since he first left in 2016.

Alves won 23 major honours in eight seasons with Barca between 2008 and 2016, and even returned for the 2021/22 campaign to help the club amid their financial crisis which at its height saw them €1.35 billion in debt.

Sergi Roberto, Nelson Semedo and Sergino Dest are among those to have got their game in the position in recent seasons, but the former is a midfielder by trade and the latter two now play for Wolves and AC Milan respectively.

READ: Dani Alves signs with Barcelona until end of the year

Hector Bellerin was signed from Arsenal in the summer, but injury means that left-back Alex Balde and centre-back Jules Kounde have played right-back more often than him this season.

Barca spent €150m on Kounde as well as Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha in the summer, but their group stage exit from the Champions League means their purse strings have been tightened again, and it is a new right-back or bust in the January transfer window.

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Barca's short-list

"[Barcelona]'s management already have several names on the table," report Mundo Deportivo. "Juan Foyth (24 years old, Villarreal), who was previously on the cusp of joining Barca before injury, remains an option. Alongside the Argentine are other names such as Benjamin Pavard (26, Bayern Munich) and Diogo Dalot (23, Manchester United)."

READ: Revealed: Jorge Mendes plans to take Diogo Dalot to Barcelona

Dalot can discuss terms on a Bosman transfer with clubs from outside of England from January with his contract at Old Trafford expiring in June, so he could prove Barca's cheapest option despite also being the youngest.

That could also make the Portuguese's arrival the likeliest. His expiring contract means Barca could get him for a knockdown price in January - something that would also suit them due to financial fair play regulations.

"We received confirmation that our salary margin would be even more restrictive than before," Joan Laporta said recently. "We're going to meet our budget of earning €274 million but that won't count towards financial fair play rules. They should review it because it doesn't make any sense.

"If we signed someone, it'd be convenient to do it in winter."