Christopher Michel is reporting that Barcelona have reached a verbal agreement with Eintracht Frankfurt defender Evan Ndicka over a free transfer in the summer.
The 23-year-old French centre-back is out of contract at the end of the season and has been linked with a Bosman transfer away from the Bundesliga outfit.
Barcelona are among the clubs to have shown serious interest in signing Ndicka. The Blaugrana have four central defensive options in the squad currently, but none of them is left-footed, something that they are looking to add to their roster for next season.
It has led to a serious interest in Athletic Club’s Inigo Martinez, who is understood to be keen on joining Barcelona as well.
However, Ndicka could appeal more to the La Liga leaders considering that he is just 23 and has his entire career ahead of him.
The report from Christopher Michel states that while an agreement has been reached, there is nothing fixed at this point and Barcelona will be deciding whether they want to sign Ndicka or not in early March.
Should the deal go ahead, the former AJ Auxerre starlet would be joining as a backup defender, given that the likes of Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Kounde have firmly established themselves as permanent fixtures in Xavi’s side.
What it would mean for Eric Garcia’s continuity and future at Camp Nou will be interesting to see. The former Manchester City ace has hardly played for Barça in recent months and has seemingly fallen out of favour, with Xavi, at times, preferring Marcos Alonso ahead of him.
Should Ndicka or Inigo Martinez, for that matter, arrive in the summer, it could spell problems for Garcia.
Barcelona have been forced to delve into the free-agent pool in recent years due to their financial issues. And it will be no different next summer either. Only time will tell whether Ndicka is one of the Bosman signings that Joan Laporta & co. actually make.
