Barcelona’s defensive struggles have been exposed big time in this initial phase of the 2026-27 season. While the Catalan club have managed to score goals in LaLiga, their defensive struggles haven’t worked out against other European powerhouses like PSG. Currently, the club’s depth has been depleted to the ground as well, with Ronald Araujo gone and injuries to Andres Christensen, Eric Garcia, and Jules Kounde.
This difficult situation hasn’t been created in one day either. In the last few seasons, Barca haven’t signed any major defenders to boost their back line, which has cost them largely in European competitions. For context, the Catalan club have failed to keep a clean sheet in the last 18 Champions League games and has even conceded 3+ goals 7 times in the last 29 games.
Earlier reports from Diario Sports had already remarked that Barca is considering a CB signing in the winter transfer window. Now, according to reports from journalist Ekrem Konur, Barcelona is rumoured to be interested in Lisandro Martinez. Konur’s information also states that the Catalan club is following his situation at Manchester United.
Notably, Martinez is in a precarious position at United. While he’s among the senior players of the team, Martinez’s latest rant against the United leadership has scarred his relationship with the United front office to a certain extent. The situation unfolded after United’s 0-2 defeat against Atletico Madrid.
Speaking at the press conference, Martinez remarked that he expected more support from the front office. “I expect more from our technical director,” Martínez said as per ESPN India. “You start changing, changing, changing managers, but what about other areas?” This created a sort of outburst in the United camp, even though Martínez later met manager Michael Carrick and even issued a social media apology post.
Yet despite that, the tensions between the club and the players remain at an all-time high. Considering this strained relationship, the 2027 summer transfer window could also see Lisandro Martinez’s departure from the Red Devils, as his contract ends in June 2027. United do have the option to extend Martinez’s contract for one more year, but it needs to be seen whether they activate that.
If that doesn’t happen, Barcelona can get Martinez for free. Currently valued at 37.6M Pounds, landing Martinez at the Camp Nou next summer would be a great move for the Catalan club, considering their thin defensive depth. A left-footed ball-playing centre-back, Martinez thrives on passing accuracy, defending relentlessness.
While his height can be a caveat in aerial duels, the other components of his game, like aggressive and accurate tackling and ball progression, complement it. Martinez’s passing accuracy and ability to adapt to a high line also make him a perfect fit in Flick’s system as a left centre-back, given that the former is injury-free.
As per Barca Times, the club should have a substantial amount in the bank as well, given that they were bidding north of 100M for Julián Álvarez in the summer transfer window. If they get Martinez for free next year, it would be a bargain.
Barca’s sporting director Deco has been quite an expert in pulling off free agent signings to balance the financial books. Thus, Martinez’s signing fulfils both of Deco’s criteria: build a team for the future and keep the bank balance of the club healthy. In any other case, Barcelona would need to explore options and spend big bucks on players like Alessandro Bastoni.
With the winter transfer window a few months away, it would be interesting to see how Barca makes this decision to not only solve the immediate problem but also build for the future.
