What’s the story?
According to Express, Barcelona are planning a shock bid for Real Madrid defender Danilo. Ernesto Valverde is on the lookout for a full-back and has identified Danilo as the perfect candidate after it was reported that Hector Bellerin would not force his way out of the Emirates.
Danilo did not play a lot of football for the Los Blancos in the recently concluded season and will be available for around €30m considering the fact that Real won’t let him join their arch rivals for silly money.
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Barcelona were in pole position to land Danilo in 2015 after they identified him as the long-term heir to Dani Alves’ spot in the team and negotiations had already begun before Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti entered the scene to hijack the deal. Despite sharing a close relationship with former Santos teammate Neymar, the defender decided to make a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Blaugrana’s transfer ban, which meant that they would be unable to field any new signings till 2016, also played a huge role in Danilo snubbing the La Liga giants to join their biggest rivals.
The heart of the matter
Danilo has fallen down the pecking order at his current club after the impressive performances of Dani Carvajal and is poised to leave the club. With Bellerin set to stay in London despite rumours linking him with a move back to the Nou Camp where he started off as a player, Barcelona seem to have shifted their focus on to another possible candidate in the form of Danilo.
Also read: Reports: Barcelona have found their alternative for Marco Verratti
Danilo has similar attributes to Alves, one of the club’s most successful signings, and likes to go forward and attack whenever needed.
What’s next?
Real are expected to play hardball in terms of letting the player leave but a serious offer could make Zinedine Zidane think twice as he clearly prefers Carvajal over the Brazilian.
Author’s take
Barcelona and Valverde are willing to go to any extent to acquire the services of a full-back who can provide stability to the right-hand side of their backline and they would ideally want to bring Danilo to the Nou Camp considering they wanted him badly during his impressive spell with Porto.
