Within FC Barcelona’s squad, there is only one player who doesn’t  have a natural challenger for his position – Dani Alves. This is something that seems about to change, however, with four possible targets for a right back back-up being suggested by Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo.

So far it is only Carles Puyol who has been a natural choice for the right back position when Alves have been unavailable. If Marquez is about to leave the club this summer, Barcelona will only have 4 central defenders in the squad: Carles Puyol, Gerrard Pique, Gabriel Milito and Dimytro Chygrynskiy. Both Caceres and Henrique, who have been out on loan this season, seem to have no future in the club, while our young talents seem only to get a chance to rotate infrequently between Barca Atletic and the first team. It appears a natural conclusion therefore that Barcelona need another option to Alves if he gets injured or is out with suspension.

The four alternatives Barcelona are looking at are Schalke 04′s Rafinha (24), Rubin Kazan’s Ansaldi (23), Osasuna’s Azpilicueta (20), and Arsenal’s Eboue (26). It is up to Txiki to decide if the club should go for a young player such as Rafinha, Ansaldi or Azpilicueta, or if they should buy Eboue who has more experience than the other young defenders. If they approach Eboue, Barcelona will not face problems with Arsenal’s asking price, but Eboue would also have to accept that he will be the back-up for Dani Alves. A website in Pamplona announced that Azpilicueta had come to an agreement with Real Madrid yesterday, but Osasuna wants to wait before they finalize the transfer. Ansaldi is a player that Guardiola has knowledge of, having met Rubin Kazan in the group stages of the Champions League this season. Schalke’s Rafinha is a well known football player, who has done well for many seasons in Germany despite his young age.