Is ex-Madridista Sergio Reguilon the successor to Jordi Alba?

Swapnil
By Swapnil
4 Min Read

FC Barcelona have joined the long list of top European clubs who have registered an interest in signing former Real Madrid and the current Tottenham Hotspur left-back Sergio Reguilon. The interest comes as the club assesses its option should the club fail to bring in their primary target Jose Gaya from Valencia C.F.

Reguilon, a former Real Madrid player had joined the club’s youth academy when he was just eight years of age. After a number of loan spells youth team manager Santiago Solari made him his first-choice left-back in the Castilla.  Julen Lopetegui promoted him to the first team, but after his sacking new boss Zinedine Zidane did not favour the Spanish left-back and after an impressive loan spell at Sevilla, Spurs snapped him up for a fee of £27.5m. But Real Madrid made sure they had inserted a £41.25 million (€45m) buyback option for the now fully capped Spanish international. Since then Reguilon has blown hot and cold at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, making 64 appearances in the process.

BUT DO FC BARCELONA REALLY NEED HIM SERGIO REGUILON?

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Barcelona has been long in the hunt for a Jordi Alba replacement. Junior Firpo and Lucas Digne both failed to replace him while the club have also tried Sergino Dest and Álex Balde. But it seems that the hierarchy has made up their mind and they want to pursue a proven and tested player, so it makes sense that the club will pursue Reguilon’s signature in the upcoming transfer window.

An aggressive defender, Reguilon is an active presser and tries to win the ball back as higher up the pitch as possible. This might leave the left side of the pitch prone to counter-attacks, but with his quick recovery pace he can easily track down opposition attackers. He is also a good attacking threat contributing 2 goals and 3 assists in a difficult season for Tottenham Hotspur.

National coach Luis Enrique’s first-choice left-back Jose Gaya is reportedly the club’s primary left-back target, but given the club’s precarious financial situation and Transfermarkt valuing Jose Gaya at £36m and the club have tied him down to a new long-term contract, so it might be a bit difficult for them to land their target. While on the other hand, Sergio Reguilon is valued at £25m and will probably be tricky to convince given his history with 13-time UEFA Champions League winners. Also, Real Madrid might want to activate the buy-back clause inserted in his contract given that the first choice left-back Ferland Mendy has now missed 28 games due to injury concerns right from his move from Lyon two seasons ago & Marcelo looking a shadow of himself this year.

Also, Alejandro Grimaldo, the former youth product of Barcelona’s esteemed academy La Masia is also a likely target for FC Barcelona and most likely one since his market value stands at just £18m. Barcelona is most definitely going to sign a left-back, but it remains to be seen who they go for.

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