Barcelona have made the right-back position as one of their priorities for the upcoming summer transfer window, and have been identifying potential options throughout the season. There is one that stands out as a preferred option for Sporting Director Deco though.
Last summer the Blaugrana tried to move for Almeria and Spain Olympic gold medalllist Marc Pubill, but did not pull off the move due to salary limit concerns. Since, the Blaugrana have maintained conversations with the 21-year-old’s agent. Another option that has been mentioned is Oscar Mingueza, who due to Barcelona’s sell-on clause would only cost them €10m as things stand, while AS Monaco’s Vanderson is another name that has returned to the newspaper columns.
Héctor Fort and Gerard Martín face a key career dilemma at Barça. Both full-backs impressed in pre-season, and earned a place in the squad, but the club continue to scout alternatives. The two now have two paths ahead: follow Sergi Roberto’s example by staying as squad players or…
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 28, 2025
Those options have all been touted for some time, but a more recent addition to the Blaugrana shortlist has been Rayo Vallecano’s Andrei Ratiu. As per MD, the 26-year-old Romanian international has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Bayer Leverkusen, and in January, Aston Villa.
Another team that have a vested interest in Ratiu’s future are Villarreal, with the Yellow Submarine retaining a 50% sell-on fee themselves. He is expected to move on from Vallecas in the summer, and has a €25m release clause. With a deal running until 2028, Rayo will be well within their rights to demand his release clause or close to it.
The Catalan daily explain that Ratiu is one of the options on Barcelona’s radar, and is amongst Deco’s preferred choices. Beyond his price tag, which obviously requires Barcelona to be in a position to spend, Ratiu has shown both strong offensive instincts, and a decent defensive battling spirit. He is theoretically coming into the prime of his career, and has plenty of pace to burn on the right flank too. So far Hansi Flick has shown that he still believes Hector Fort to be in a development phase, with Jules Kounde receiving little rest.
