Scouting Barcelona Transfer Target Eric Bailly

If Barcelona fans picked up a copy of Tuesday's Mundo Deportivo, they would know the latest player they have been linked to is Villarreal defender Eric Bailly.

A huge image of the centre-back was plastered on the front cover, and the Spanish newspaper reported (h/t Football Espana) he could be an affordable option at the back, with Villarreal willing to negotiate a deal under €25 million for him, possibly as low as €20m.

He only cost the Yellow Submarine €5.7m from Espanyol and is viewed as an alternative to more expensive players like Aymeric Laporte, Marquinhos and Jose Gimenez.

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Barcelona will need a new centre-back in the summer, someone able to challenge the pairing of Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano.

The club are considering clearing out six of their current defenders in the summer, according to Diario Sport.

Javier Giraldo listed the players Luis Enrique reportedly wants to get rid of, with Douglas and Adriano top of the list, having barely played, while Thomas Vermaelen and Marc Bartra aren't high up the coach's pecking order when it comes to deciding the central defence.

Meanwhile, Dani Alves and Aleix Vidal are also mentioned as possible departures.

Giraldo wrote:

"

Barça have experienced problems in defence since the retirement of Carles Puyol - or even before then. Not just in terms of the centre-back partnership, Pique-Mascherano, but for the back-up behind them. None of the purchased or young central defenders have been able to consolidate their place in the team and the Catalan and the Argentine have always remained first choice.

In recent seasons, the club have scoured the market for a top level centre-back: from Thiago Silva to Marquinhos. In the offices at Camp Nou they’ve identified dozens of names, but some have been unattainable and others have not worked out.

"

Bailly, however, may be the perfect choice. He is 22, young enough to have a long sell-by date, unlike Vermaelen and Jeremy Mathieu, who were signed the summer before last.

Before he played at Villarreal, he lived in Catalonia, playing for Barcelona's rivals Espanyol. Before long, the Castellon side spotted his potential and pounced.

This season Bailly has been a key piece of the puzzle for Villarreal, as they reached the UEFA Europa League semi-finals and are poised to finish fourth in La Liga.

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Bailly has featured in 33 games and generally played brilliantly. The Ivorian centre-back will have come under the eye of Roberto Fernandez, Barcelona's sporting director, because he has made several trips to El Madrigal to watch Denis Suarez.

Although he's naturally a centre-back, Bailly is versatile and able to feature in both full-back positions. Having played at a strong level in the Spanish top flight, he is not a gamble and will not need time to adapt to the division.

Bailly is good on the ball, bringing it out of defence, which is a key factor for Barcelona defenders, and his tackling is top notch, too.

Where he might fall down is his discipline; sometimes he should be more sensible before flying into a tackle, but it's not a huge problem and he can easily be trained out of any bad habits.

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Bailly is arguably not ready to be thrown straight into a 60-plus game season as a first-choice defender, but a season at Barcelona as the first replacement for either Pique or Mascherano won't do him too much harm, with regular cup appearances.

But if Barcelona don't want to risk stalling his progress at all, they could sign him and then loan him back to Villarreal, a place where he clearly enjoys playing and is developing under head coach Marcelino.

Like most defenders of his age he still has more to learn, but his excellent speed can help dig him out of any holes he might accidentally create.

Any Barcelona fans interested in observing Bailly should tune in to Europa League coverage on Thursday night, when he and Villarreal take on Premier League side Liverpool.