Fabrizio Romano has discussed Barcelona‘s situation in defence following the retirement of club legend Gerard Pique.
Writing in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, the transfer news specialist explained that it was too soon to know for sure what kind of role Pique might look to have at the Nou Camp in the future.
However, Romano was able to name Athletic Bilbao centre-back Inigo Martinez as one potential transfer target to replace Pique in Xavi’s defence.
“It was emotional to see a legend like Gerard Pique bring his playing career to an end, but what next for the retiring defender, and what will Barcelona do to replace him?” Romano wrote.
“For sure Pique dreams of returning to the Nou Camp in a different role in the future, but he has not decided anything now, it’s too early.
“As for Barcelona, they will look for new centre-back in January, they have multiple names on the list – Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao is one of them, but not the only one.”
Pique had a great career at Barcelona and it won’t be easy to replace him, though the club did well to sign big names like Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen to shore up their defence in the summer.
It will be interesting to see what Pique decides to do next, but it’s easy to imagine he’ll be keen for a role at Barca in the future, either as a coach or maybe one of the directors, or even club president.