La Liga giants Barcelona are keen to secure a quality defender to strengthen the arguably under-performing back line these past two seasons.
In a press conference back in April, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique was quoted as saying, "...we’ll try to strengthen ourselves in every position as well as we can" and appears eagerly determined in building a squad with two players for every position."
The Liga BBVA giants recently added French center-back Jeremy Mathieu to their ranks, signing him for £15.8m from La Liga rivals Valencia, but could still do with more back line recruits, shortlisting five world-class names.
Marquinhos, a player who the Catalan side were after, but lost to Paris Saint-Germain in a bidding war in last year's transfer window, is tipped as the most likely addition to the Blaugrana, especially given the Ligue 1 side's £50m acquisition of David Luiz.
However, Les Parisiens has taken a rather adamant stand in the negotiations for a player it splurged on for €32m only one season back.
Barca reignite their interest in PSG defender Marquinhos
Jan Vertonghen is also being speculated with a move to the Catalan side. The Tottenham defender is reportedly highly open to a summer move to Camp Nou with two years to run before his Spurs contract ends. But, Barcelona are set to meet fierce competition from rival suitors for the highly-coveted defender.
Another high-profile defender on the Barcelona's wishlist is Borussia Dortmund ace Mats Hummels. The World Cup-winning defender has made a name for himself as a quality center-back during his time with Jurgen Klopp's side, but could be looking for pastures new after seeing Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, and Robert Lewandowski leave the Signal Iduna Park.
The Blaugrana also have an eye out for Mats Hummels and Jan Vertonghen
Lastly, Barcelona are also keeping an eye out for Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen, who has taken a back-seat role to Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker, and Ajax's Daley Blind, who impressed at the World Cup with Netherlands.
