Barcelona Turn to Juventus' Mattia De Sciglio as Nélson Semedo Nears Camp Nou Exit
By Tom Gott
Barcelona are prepared to cut ties with right-back Nélson Semedo this summer, and are understood to be keen on Juventus' Mattia De Sciglio as a replacement.
Talks over a new contract for Semedo at Barcelona have stalled, and with just two years left on his current deal, he is now expected to be sold this summer - either as a traditional deal or as part of a swap deal.
One such swap deal has involved Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanić. According to Marca, Barcelona have offered Semedo, Sergi Roberto, Ivan Rakitić or Arturo Vidal in exchange, but De Sciglio's name has entered the conversation once or twice.
The Barcelona board are understood to be impressed by De Sciglio's defensive stability and they see him as a perfect alternative to the attack-minded Roberto.
A €10m fee is suggested, and given parting ways with Semedo would likely earn Barcelona far more than that, affording such an amount would be no problem whatsoever.
Obviously, a move for De Sciglio would only happen if Semedo left. Alongside Juventus, a move to Inter as part of the Lautaro Martínez deal has been suggested, and there has even been some crazy stories suggesting Semedo could head to Manchester City as part of a three-way trade.
Regardless of where he goes, Barcelona seem to be confident that De Sciglio would be a suitable replacement, although they do have several other right-backs on their books who will also be considered.
21-year-old Moussa Wagué is currently on loan at Nice and they have an option to buy the Senegal international permanently - though Barcelona also have the option to buy him back.
It's a similar situation with Emerson, who is currently with Real Betis. It's a complicated co-ownership system which saw Barcelona help finance his move to Betis and agree an option of somewhere between €6m and €9m to sign the Brazilian in the future.
Both players could come cheaper than De Sciglio are are also considerably younger than the 27-year-old, but whether either would be happy on the bench at Camp Nou is a different question entirely. De Sciglio likely would be, given that is his role with Juventus, and that could make all the difference.