Why Marquinhos Should Be Barcelona's No. 1 Summer Transfer Target
Paris Saint-Germain central defender Marquinhos continues to impress in the French Ligue 1 and has to be the main summer transfer target for Barcelona.
Javier Mascherano has done a fine job alongside Gerard Pique for the Blaugrana but the Argentinian will be 32 years of age by the beginning of next season and isn't ruling out another crack at the Premier League before he returns home.
Per an interview with the Independent (via ESPN FC), El Jefe noted:
"Returning to the Premier League? I don't know.
My feeling for Liverpool does not mean I'm tied to them. If in the future a Premier League team was interested in me and I had the chance to go back, you can't say: "No, I would only play for one team."
I don't know what I would do.
"
Barca have for a while now needed a commanding defender to complement Pique. Masche is unbelievably good most of the time on the deck, but his height limits his presence in the air.
At just over 6'0", Marquinhos plugs that particular gap quite nicely.
At 21, the Brazilian is the same age as another target, Athletic Bilbao's Aymeric Laporte.
The Frenchman is a regular in his side, and the Basque's won't do business at anything less than Laporte's buyout clause of £50 million.
There's nothing to suggest that PSG are willing to cash in on either Thiago Silva or David Luiz, and with three into two still not mathematically possible, Marquinhos is left as the odd man out.
A player who has played 21 games for the French league champions, but only 12 of those as a starter, is therefore arguably going to come cheaper than £50 million.
There's much to admire about his natural game, too.
If there is one thing that marks Barcelona players out from any other it is their ability on the ball.
No matter which position in the team, every single player is comfortable in possession and rarely squanders the same.
Marquinhos has a magnificent 92.7 percent passing accuracy, per WhoScored.com. Compare that to Laporte, who is way off with just 79.6 percent.
Laporte may be a more natural fit in terms of being a left-footed exponent, but as Mascherano has shown, playing on the left side of central defence despite being a right-footed player hasn't caused any real issues.
Discipline could be an issue for a Barca side that rotates but likes to keep a core of players who play week in and week out.
With no one really up to the job of becoming a full-time partner for Pique other than Mascherano, the new signing should be able to stake a claim right away.
Marquinhos has just one yellow card to his name throughout the 2015/16 campaign, while Laporte has 11 and two red cards to boot. That's hardly the kind of cool head that the Catalans need at the back is it?
Laporte does have four goals compared to just a solitary strike from the Brazilian, but the player would be bought for his defensive prowess first and foremost.
Marquinhos is a ball-playing centre-back and strides out of defence with ease and purpose. Lightning-quick, he could show Laporte a clean pair of heels in this regard also.
With Barca often playing such a high line, to have a player blessed with natural pace at the back would be manna from heaven for Enrique.
Laporte makes an average of two tackles, 2.6 interceptions and 3.6 clearances in each game, per WhoScored, which is slightly more than the Brazilian in each case, but with more match time, there is every reason to expect that Marquinhos' numbers will rise significantly.
It's also worth pointing out at this point that while Laporte has gained more experience, he's shown no desire to leave Athletic Club.
In an interview with Telefoot (via Sport) he said:
"FC Barcelona is one of the most important clubs in the world, but I would reject an offer from them. They have not talked to me to present an offer, not this season or last, but it wouldn't interest me.
All the future is ahead, playing these years at Athletic.
"
Compare that to Marquinhos' words to Le Parisien (via Spencer Morgan of the Daily Mail):
"Everyone knows that you need to have a period of reflection at the end of the season.
We will talk about the objectives of the club and my own personal objectives. At the moment, I'm trying to be professional.
I put myself at the disposal of the club all the time at centre-back, at right-back or even in midfield. I'm trying to work to earn my place and to get game time.
"
That's not quite a "come-and-get-me" plea, but it's not a blanket dismissal of a move elsewhere either.
In most areas of the pitch, the Catalans are well set with their first-choice exponents and a reserve. The one area where they've almost always struggled is in central defence.
Try as he might, Marc Bartra has never provided the solution. Jeremy Mathieu is far too erratic to be considered a regular starter, and Thomas Vermaelen's injuries are catching up with him now.
The Belgian can't be considered a long-term prospect either.
The Carles Puyol-Pique axis was just about as good as it's got in recent times for the Blaugrana, but with the shaggy-haired warrior long since disappeared, Barca should have found a good enough replacement by now.
A seemingly continuous focus on the attacking elements of the team doesn't look great on the board and sporting director, but they could argue that, after a treble-winning season and another that threatens to be even better in numbers terms, it hasn't been a priority to partner Pique with a like-for-like defender.
And they might also point to 2014/15 being the season when they conceded just twice from set pieces, a vast improvement on the couple of seasons prior to that campaign.
Looking ahead to this summer, it's clear that Barcelona don't need to strengthen in the attacking third.
Although it still hasn't been signed as yet, Neymar's contract renewal looks to be a foregone conclusion.
Sporting director Robert Fernandez told Marca (via Sky Sports) that:
"We are currently working on Neymar's contract extension and I don't think there will be any type of problem.
I have no doubt in my mind that Neymar will spend the rest of his life at Barcelona.
"
Luis Suarez has previously said he has no intention of leaving the club and Lionel Messi will only leave toward the end of his career.
Sergio Busquets is on the verge of a renewal to keep him out of the clutches of Manchester City, as reported by Kieran Gill for MailOnline in February, and with the Catalans chock-full of high-class midfielders, there's no need to waste money there either.
With no let-up in the desire or hunger of this side to become the very best club side in the history of the game, there has to be a period of continuous evaluation and evolution, rather than revolution.
It's entirely natural that there will be wastage along the way, but if this Barca vintage want to keep improving, then they need to secure the best players available.
PSG will be an entirely different team next season with the expected losses of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, to name just two.
Marquinhos needs to spread his wings also, and Barca need to make sure that they are at the head of the queue for his services.
.jpg?w=600 "Shedeur not currently in line for Browns QB1")
