Barcelona Transfer News: Sevilla Lead Aleix Vidal Race in Latest Rumours

Sevilla are reportedly interested in re-signing former player Aleix Vidal from Barcelona in January but could face competition from Atletico Madrid and Valencia.

According to ABC de Sevilla (via Football Espana), Los Nervionenses lead the race to snap up the 28-year-old for around €10 million, but there are fears about Atleti and Valencia's increasing interest.

It is little surprise Vidal looks set to leave Barca in the winter transfer window as his career has stalled at the Camp Nou.

He signed for the Blaugrana for €18 million in June 2015 but was unable to make his debut until January 2016 due to the Catalan club's FIFA-imposed registration ban.

The right-back then suffered a dislocated ankle in February 2017 that ruled him out for the remainder of the 2016-17 campaign and ended his first run of fine form in a Barca shirt.

Since recovering, the Spaniard has failed to work his way back into the first team, starting just three La Liga games in 2017-18 with Sergi Roberto having nailed down the right-back berth.

Vidal has played just 25 times in the top flight for Barca—totalling 1,364 minutes of action—despite joining the club two-and-a-half years ago.

He netted in stoppage time against Real Madrid on Saturday to complete Barca's superb 3-0 win, but it was indicative of Vidal's place in manager Ernesto Valverde's squad that he had only been introduced with minutes to go when the game was won.

Vidal could be a useful addition to any one of Sevilla, Atleti or Valencia.

While he is traditionally a right-back, the Catalonia-born player is capable of operating anywhere down the right flank.

For example, in Barca's UEFA Champions League clash with Sporting CP on December 5, Vidal started on the right of an attacking three alongside Luis Suarez and Paco Alcacer.

Barca are likely to be open to selling Vidal as long as they get the right price and, given there is interest in him from a number of top Spanish clubs, it would be a surprise if he was still at the Camp Nou beyond January.