According to a report in the Spanish outlet Don Balon, Messi has agreed to the sale of left-back Marc Cucurella who is currently on loan at SD Eibar. Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde is reportedly not convinced by Cucurella, especially with his defensive abilities. Although, once considered as the long term replacement for Barcelona’s current left back Jordi Alba, it looks like Cucurella’s career at Barcelona will come to an end soon.
Transfer Rumour Reliability
Don Balon is the source of this transfer rumour and the Spanish outlet are a Tier 5 source in our Football Transfer Sources Reliability Guide. A Tier 5 source is highly unreliable with their reporting, so unless other sources pick up this story, this transfer is unlikely to happen.
Barcelona are looking to strengthen their squad in various areas as many key players such as Suarez, Pique, Busquets, Rakitic and Messi himself are all in their 30s. Some of Barcelona’s expensive transfers over the past few years have not exactly worked out for them. One of the biggest disappointments has been the purchase of Coutinho, who has struggled to replicate his Liverpool form at Barca. Valverde and Barca board need to be more financially prudent in their transfers as Barca already have a huge wage bill and their finances are actually not as healthy as other big clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester United.