Barcelona’s struggles at right-back have been ongoing for a long time now, and it was Jules Kounde last year who made fans believe for the first time that the team had struck gold.
The Frenchman’s numbers and performances last season were impressive, so much so that some hailed him as the best right-back on the planet. This season, however, has been contrastingly opposite.
Kounde has been one of Barcelona’s poorest-performing players this campaign and many see it to be a priority to sign a right-back once more.
Given the current circumstances, SPORT brings to light a report that explains how Atletico Madrid’s right-back could well have been at Barcelona had matters progressed slightly differently.
Pubill almost joined Barcelona
Indeed, the report confirms that Marc Pubill was close to signing for Barcelona in the summer of 2024 when he was still at Almeria and seen as one of the brightest young Spanish talents.
In fact, the Catalans’ sporting director Deco almost had the deal completely finalised and even had a complete agreement in place with Pubill to arrive and strengthen Hansi Flick’s team for his first season in charge.
After all, the new manager was demanding a new right-back signing, but the club ruled out retaining Joao Cancelo after his loan stint.
Given how Almeria were in the second division, Deco and Co. saw it to be an opportune time to pounce on Pubill for a paid loan of €5 million and a purchase clause of €12 million.
His club at the time, however, declined the transaction at the last moment, hoping they could get more from his sale.
Eventually, Atletico Madrid arrived on the scene a year later and picked him up for €16 million and he has stood out for Los Rojiblancos so far – not only at right-back but at centre-back too.
He will face Barcelona later this week in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal and it will be interesting to see how the former club target fares against the team he was set to join.
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