Barcelona put move for €8m defender on stand-by

Barcelona put move for €8m defender on stand-by

Barcelona are hoping to sign Alessandro Bastoni this summer, but he may not be the only central defender to arrive at the Catalan club before the start of next season. Sporting director Deco has plans to continue adding exciting talents into the La Masia pool, and the latest of those could be Ruud Nijstad.

In January, Barcelona finalised the signing of Juwensley Onstein from Genk, but he was not the only young Dutch defender that was sought. A move was also made for Nijstad, but in the end, it was not possible for a deal to be done before the winter transfer window closed at the start of February.

Despite this, Barcelona have retained their interest in Nijstad, and a move in the summer had been planned. However, Sport have revealed that it is no longer on their agenda, as talks with Twente have been put on stand-by.

Barcelona consider Nijstad asking price to be excessive

As per the report, Twente are asking for €8m to part ways with Nijstad, who is considered to be one of the best young defenders of his generation in the Netherlands. Barcelona consider this to be too high for a player that is still in the very early stages of his career, which is why they have decided to put their plans on hold.

However, that is not to say that a move will not be made in the future, with the possibility that it could be explored in the summer still. Barcelona have not lost any interest in Nijstad, but rather, they consider it not to be the right time to continue pushing for an agreement with Twente.

Barcelona want to see how the rest of the season plays out before deciding whether to go back in for Nijstad. For now, they are prepared to sit and wait for developments.