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What's the story?
Barcelona are on a roll this January. After smashing aside notions of trusting youth and their own academy and showing Liverpool who really is the boss by splurging £142 million on Philippe Coutinho - digging into their Neymar-PSG treasure chest and paying up around about £102 up-front - they are ready to make their next move to ensure their stranglehold over La Liga isn't loosened one bit.
To this end, they are ready to strengthen one of the few concern areas they have in their squad - the centre-back position - and are believed to be bringing forward their timeline on bringing Palmeiras' and Colombia's exceptional young defender Yerry Mina to Camp Nou.
The good folk over at Marca believe Barca will unveil their new signing within a couple of days.
In case you didn't know...
A fee of around €12 million has been agreed for the Colombian, suggest reports - and that's peanuts compared to the kind of money being bandied about in the market these days. Initially, it had been understood that Mina would arrive at Barca in the summer, but with the Catalans suffering a mini-injury crisis at the back they are keen to reinforce their squad immediately
The heart of the matter
Mina, it is understood, wants to join Barca immediately - not wanting to delay his entry into the big time (all due respect to Palmeiras) and the Catalans are keen to seal the deal before they allow Javier Mascherano to 'retire' in peace in China.
It is also understood that the Catalans are working overtime to ensure that Arda Turan leaves this window and that Gerard Deulofeu and Aleix Vidal are farmed out on loan within the month.
Video
Here's Yerry Mina in action for those of you who are not keen fans of the Brazilian domestic scene:
The lad can play and would prove to be a valuable addition to the Barca squad.
Author's take
Yerry Mina would be exactly the kind of smart addition to the squad that a club like Barcelona needs and Ernesto Valverde has proven in his short time at the helm already that he knows what he is doing.
Win-Win for the both of them.
