Barcelona is set to hijack Manchester City target

Barcelona is set to rival Manchester City for their target Inigo Martinez of Real Sociedad this summer.

The Premier League club is in need for a centre back to bolster his options at the defence line following the recent defensive worries of the team lately.

Manchester City is now set to face a strong competition from Spanish giant Barcelona over the signing of the Real Sociedad defender.

Barcelona received a world record fee from PSG for Neymar, and they are wasting no time spending it, with €32million Martinez set to join the Catalan club ‘imminently’ and sign a five-year deal according to SPORT.

The Etihad outfit will need to look elsewhere for a centre-back but at the moment it is unclear who it may be.

It is also claimed that Chelsea is ready to launch a £50million bid for Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk, a player who Pep Guardiola is known to admire, but thecoach wants a cheaper defensive option considering the amount he has spent on defenders this season having acquired the likes of Danilo from Real Madrid for a transfer fee of £26.5 million, Kyle Walker from Tottenham Hotspur for £45 million and Benjamin Mendy from Monaco for £52m (€57.5m) An alternative is to keep Eliaquim Mangala, who is upfor sale and recently snubbed a move to Spartak Moscow in Russia.Pep Guardiola is not thought to be a huge fan of the 26-year-old but has included him regularly in pre-season and may consider taking him off the market if no suitable defensive target appears.

The French international spent last season on loan with Valencia, he made 30 appearances and scored two goals for the Mestalla outfit.