For the last couple of seasons, Barcelona has been a victim of the same recurring nemesis. The Catalan club would do almost everything right on the offensive end to win games, but their defense pulled them back like a string. Be it the Inter Milan game in the UCL semifinal or the Atletico Madrid game last season, Barca’s backline didn’t exactly look like a Championship-contending team.
That exact same process has reiterated itself once again this season as well. In the first few games against La Liga teams, Hansi Flick’s team blew away opponents with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal dictating the final third. Their performance literally overshadowed the small defensive mistakes that they had been committing.
When the European powerhouses like PSG and Real Madrid turned up against the Catalan club, suddenly the equation changed. Against strong defenses where every goal mattered, Barcelona’s defense couldn’t capitalize, putting too much pressure on the offensive end and eventually losing back-to-back games.
With injuries piling up rapidly in the defensive bracket, Barcelona have been pushed into a precarious situation at this point in the season, as the club doesn’t even have any formidable natural center-back to pair up with Pau Cubarsi. This is where Barca has moved to the drawing board to identify players for the winter transfer window in January.
According to reports, the Spanish giants have shown keen interest in 25-year-old PSG centre-back, Willian Pacho, who is one of the hottest defenders around Europe currently. Pacho recently finished 20th in the Ballon d’Or list, and sources say that Barca will try to sign the Ecuadorian in January.
Pacho joined the Ligue 1 club from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2024, where PSG paid 34.3M GBP for the player. Since then, the Ecuadorian has gone from strength to strength, eventually becoming a starter in Luis Enrique playing XI. Willian Pacho even recently played in PSG’s 4-2 win over Barca at the Parc des Princes.
He made some crucial defensive saves, including a goal-line intervention during a play against Fermin Lopez. Pacho also neutralized the threat of Raphinha to a large extent by not allowing the Brazilian to settle in the central areas of the box. A traditional left-footed center-back, Pacho is an old-school defender with elite skills in 1v1 situations, general ball-stopping, and aerial duels.
This makes the 25-year-old quite a fit for Barca in Hansi Flick’s system alongside Pau Cubarsi, who is more of a technical on-the-ball defender. Barca’s sporting director Deco has already been keeping close tabs on the center-back options for the club, with options even spanning to VFB Stuttgart defender Finn Jeltsch in the upcoming winter transfer window.
Pacho seems to be the latest addition to Barca’s watchlist for the CB position in January. The 25-year-old, however, doesn’t have any release clause in his contract, with his current market value said to be around 67M GBP-74.5M GBP. PSG isn’t looking to sell the player, and there haven’t been any reports surrounding it, but even if they do, all conditions suggest that Barca will definitely have to spend the big bucks if they want to land Pacho at Camp Nou.
