French side Olympique Marseille are targetting two Barcelona centre-backs

Olympique Marseille have made the signing of a top centre-back a priority and have contacted Barcelona to ask about the situation of two defenders who are on the exit ramp. The Ligue 1 club are interested in Clement Lenglet or Eric Garcia and would be willing to pay a fee, although the option of the French centre-back is extremely complicated due to the high salary he has for the next three seasons.

Relations between Marseille and Barça are good and in recent years have done deals. The director of football at the Blaugrana, Mateu Alemany, continues to maintain good contacts with the president of the French club, Pablo Longoria. The two coincided at Valencia and have remained close.

Marseille have reinforced well this summer, but would still like the addition of another defender. Lenglet is the big dream, although the French player would prioritise staying in the Premier League. There he has many more options to keep his salary almost in full, while at Marseille it is very unlikely that they will be able to get close to his current figures. The French side would be willing to pay a transfer fee. Barça are demanding 15 million euros for Lenglet, a price that, for now, has stopped negotiations with Tottenham.

Another of the alternatives that Marseille would contemplate is Eric Garcia. He knows that it will be difficult to get minutes this season, but for now he prefers to wait as his intention is to stay and to try and earn a place. For the moment, the defender has declined to go on loan to Real Betis and Marseille would be willing to explore either a loan or a transfer. His salary would fit, but the centre-back's willingness to go to Ligue 1 does not seem very clear. Barça believe that all these kinds of moves can be accelerated after the tour and they hope to release at least one of these two centre-backs in a matter of days.