Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso is being considered by Barcelona as a long-term replacement for Gerard Pique according to Goal.
The World Cup winner is set to turn 32 in February 2019 and the Catalans believe a defender currently at Stamford Bridge is capable of filling a void at the heart of their defence.
The versatile Alonso does have experience of playing as a centre-back from his career at Fiorentina, but he has never played there under Antonio Conte since joining Chelsea in a £23 million move in August 2016.
He has impressed in England in a wing-back position, with his performances in 2017-18 campaign earning him a place in the Premier League PFA Team of the Year.
The 27-year-old has also been called into the senior Spain squad for the first time in his career on the back of consistent outings across English and European competition, and was handed a debut against Argentina in March.
The Spain international is now in contention for a place in this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia, where he could be given further chances to impress.
Alonso, who is a product of Real Madrid’s academy system – the same club his grandfather once played for – is considered by Barca to have the required height, ball skills and tactical awareness to slip without any problem into the Catalans fold.
Chelsea, though, are prepared to resist any approaches for the Spaniard and the interest from Barcelona could lead to them offering improved terms to a player already under contract until 2021.
However Barcelona have other options to turn to if that happens, with Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt another player in their transfer plans.
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