Barcelona have put Manchester City’s Vitor Reis on their list of young centre-backs for January, and the timing is awkward for a player who has barely been given a chance under Enzo Maresca.
According to Sport, sporting director Deco has the club’s recruitment staff working through the centre-back market ahead of the winter window. Vitor Reis is one of three young names in the first group they are looking at, alongside Athletico Paranaense’s Arthur Dias and FC Twente’s Ruud Nijstad.
The 20-year-old Brazilian has made four appearances for Manchester City this season and played 199 minutes. He already knows LaLiga after his loan at Girona last season, which is part of the appeal.
Why are Barcelona looking for a centre-back?
Hansi Flick is running out of defenders. Andreas Christensen has been out since September with a left thigh injury, Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia are unavailable, and youngster Xavi Espart faces a long rest with an ankle problem. Against Alaves, Flick had to play Frenkie de Jong at centre-back next to Pau Cubarsi.
Barcelona did not sign a centre-back in the summer, as Flick put almost everything into the attack. Ideally they want a left-footer who is comfortable on the ball and quick enough to defend a very high line, though a right-sided centre-back is not ruled out.
The money is the problem. Unless Barcelona raise funds through sales, with Alejandro Balde attracting plenty of interest, their wage limit leaves very little room. That is why a loan, like the one that brought Joao Cancelo in last January, is being looked at alongside a permanent deal.
What has Vitor Reis done at City this season?
Not a lot, but what he has done has been decent. Reis went into the season as City’s fifth-choice centre-back behind Ruben Dias, Marc Guehi, Josko Gvardiol and Abdukodir Khusanov, knowing that meant far fewer minutes than he had at Girona.
He finally got his moment in the Carabao Cup against Brighton last week, flicking in a low Rayan Cherki free-kick for his first City goal. He was then among the unused substitutes in Wednesday’s 3-2 win at RB Leipzig, and with Dias expected back in our predicted lineup for Nottingham Forest, Saturday is unlikely to change that.
The chance to play at right-back as well is part of why he, Rico Lewis and Khusanov stayed in the summer. City do not have two players for every position, so cover matters.
Who else is on Barcelona’s list?
Reis fits the first profile Deco has drawn up: a young centre-back with a big future who can still help straight away. Arthur Dias, 19, has already been given a Brazil debut by Carlo Ancelotti, and Barcelona have watched him live in Brazil. Nijstad, 18, is another left-footer who is also wanted by Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
Ajax’s Youri Baas, 23, is rated highly too, and he can also play at left-back. The second profile is an experienced, ready-made defender, and that is where Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez and Arsenal’s Ecuadorian defender Hincapie come in.
Should City let Vitor Reis go?
Not in January. City are still working out their best back line under Maresca, Guehi was dropped once already this season, and Khusanov was rash at times in Leipzig. A fifth centre-back who can also cover at right-back is worth more to City than any loan fee in the middle of a 65-game season.
The summer is a different conversation. If Reis is still stuck on a couple of hundred minutes by May, a move to a club that wants him to play every week, whether that is Barcelona or somewhere else, would make sense for everyone. For now, the interest says more about Flick’s injury list than about any plan to leave the Etihad.
